Music's Silver Sound
by Pengirl55
Summary: An AU story. Every summer Bella would visit Charlie in Forks. What would happen when she met some of the Cullens while visiting? What would happen later in the story? Please read and review.
1. One Summer's Day

**Music's Silver Sound**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer. I only own this shiny purple ring. **

**A/N: Okay, so I originally wrote this story a couple of months ago, so when I re-read it I saw how terrible it was. I'm now re-writing it, and the story might change a little bit. Anyway, if you want to read the old one, it's called "Music's Silver Sound, Old" and you can find it on my profile. It's not very good because it was my first fan fiction. I assure you that this one will be much better. The story will be different.**

**So, please enjoy and don't yell at me for re writing.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 1-One Summer's Day**

"Bella, sweetie, could you go find the cat for me? I think he ran into the forest next to the house. Just run over and see if he's there. If he is, could you grab him for me? Thanks sweets," asked Ms. Gershwin.

"Sure Ms. Gershwin, no problem," I responded, trying to push the annoyance out of my voice.

Ms. Gershwin was the only friend my mother ever made in Forks. In the short time my mother happened to live here, she had only befriended the cat-lady who lived down the street, or highway, I guess.

Now, whenever I came to Forks over the summer, I had to stay with her par my mother's request. My mother always said she wanted to keep touch with Ms. Gershwin-although she never really meant it-and I was how she did it. Ms. Gershwin loved having me visit and she loved my mother. I think the only reason my mother made me stay with her was out of respect for the old lady.

For three days each summer, I brought my small bag of clothes and stayed in the tiny guest room in Ms. Gershwin's stuffy old house.

The guest room had old frilly white, now yellow, curtains adorning the windows that showed an amazing view of, you guessed it, forest. The whole house had the burning odor of cleaning supplies and the false scent of pine fresh air freshener.

Ms. Gershwin always tried to get me to play with the cats, or help her plant some tulips in the front yard, but I wouldn't have any of it. The one time she got me to do anything was when she cornered me after I left the bathroom. I was trying to sneak around the corner and run back into my room when she found me. She asked me to go find the cat, because she was too old to go search through the forest herself

I couldn't possibly say no, it would hurt her too much. And I also thought it wouldn't be so bad to walk around a little bit. So I went.

She had told me to follow the trail until it started to fade. Then I should turn around and come back. She said not to wander too far, because she wouldn't be able to come if I needed her help. Yeah right, like _I _would need _her _help.

I walked to my room to grab my sneakers and my raincoat. While she wasn't looking, I pulled my book into my pocket. Maybe I would be able to read after I found the cat.

I walked quickly under the shelter of the leaves to get out of the light mist that was now turning to rain. I meandered down the trail, letting my mind wander away from my body and into the story I had just been reading. In school we were told that we had to read a Shakespeare play over the summer. I had chosen Romeo and Juliet, because, of course, it was the only one my mom had in the house. She loved romance novels, and I loved the classics, so Romeo and Juliet was a must for us.

I was looking ahead to where the path made an abrupt left turn, when I heard meowing from behind me.

I turned around and saw Nate, the cat, walking towards me down the path. I noticed a quit rustling of leaves from where Nate had left the forest just moments earlier. I moved a little bit closer, trying to look through the darkness. I wasn't really sure what I was searching for-possibly a friendly person who wanted to help, or a larger animal of some kind-but I looked nonetheless.

"Hello?" I called through the trees, hoping that there was a person walking through the dense, trail-less forest.

No response.

"Hello?" I called again, just a little louder.

Again, no response.

"Well," I said, trying not to seem crazy for talking to the forest, "I just want to say thank you to whoever it was that brought the cat out. So…thanks."

I waited to see if the person would come, but I heard nothing.

I finally turned around and saw Nate behind me, curled up on the leafy ground. "Come on Nate, lets go back home so old cat lady can stuff you with even more junk food." I pushed him with my foot, but he wouldn't budge. He opened his mouth and meowed again. I glared at the fat old cat, sure that he had been laughing at me.

"Come on you stupid old cat, get UP," I said, hoping to sound firm and commanding to the cat. He looked up at me, pushed himself to his feet, walked about ten paces, and sat back down again.

I glared at the cat with such menace that I was sure I was shaking.

"Come on you STUPID OLD CAT! _Stop_ lying around and get back to Ms. Gershwin's house!" I was so frustrated with this old cat, that I stomped my feet. The cat opened his eyes and glared at me, mad for waking him up.

"_YOU'RE _MAD AT _ME_?" I screamed at the cat. "IF MY MOTHER WASN'T SUCH "GOOD FRIENDS" WITH MS. GIRSHWIN, I WOULD LEAVE YOU HERE FOR THE WOLVES! I SHOULD LEAVE YOU HERE, YOU'RE A MEAN OLD STUPID CAT WHO BITES PEOPLE! I STILL HAVE THE SCAR FROM WHEN YOU BIT ME LAST SUMMER, YOU STUPID FILTHY CAT!" I wanted to punch something, which was weird for me because I'm normally a non-violent person.

"Fine," I said to the cat "if you want to stay here, then I'll just go. Find your own way back, Nate."

I started walking away. When Nate was about five feet behind me, I heard a rustle of leaves and a meow.

"Oh, _now_ you'll come with me," I said as I turned around.

I gasped. Nate had come up behind me and was standing in between my legs hissing at a girl.

My eyes went wide and I felt heat rush up my neck and face. I was sure she had heard the end of my rant.

I stared at the girl. She was wearing clothing that seemed appropriate for warm California weather, not the rainy weather of Forks. She was leaning against a tree, looking at me with kindness dancing through her golden eyes. Her hair was straight, sticking up, and crowning her face in an inky black shadow. The humid weather seemed to have no affect on her clothing or hair. Whereas my hair was damp and frizzing, and my clothes were just as bad.

"Umm…. Hello," I mumbled, still bright red.

She smiled kindly and said, "Having trouble with your cat?" Her voice was high and tinkling, and had a sickly sweet ringing to it. Her voice made the quote, "Just as sweet as music's silver sound" run through my head. She sounded genuinely kind, without any trace of sarcasm. I didn't know how to respond to that. I just stared at her numbly. She kept staring back at me.

Finally I managed to say, "Thanks for bringing the cat back. I really do hate him, but he doesn't deserve to be eaten by wolves. Maybe something worse, but not wolves. I don't even know if wolves come out this far, but who knows. Maybe there was one who got lost or something…," I trailed off, feeling like an utter idiot. I knew I could babble along with the best of them, but it was still humiliating.

Her smile became more of a smirk and I swear I could hear her giggling. Even though I didn't know this stranger, it hurt for her to laugh at me. I didn't want her to think I was stupid; I honestly felt the need for her acceptance.

"What's so funny? You're not laughing at me, are you?" I asked, trying to seem strong in my insecurities.

She looked up with excitement in her eyes, and looked me over again.

I was searching her face closely, looking for something in this strangers face. I found it; she seemed expectant of my need for acceptance, and the craving gave her even more energy than she had before.

The fact that she enjoyed my insecurity made it grow stronger. It was like I felt that I needed to be in on the joke. So I said, "Why are you staring like that? I know I'm a little different but I'm not some submissive kid who'll bow down at your feet just because you have this "higher than thou" attitude, and look really pretty, and stuff." I had started off strong, but my ending was pretty lame.

While I spoke, she had begun to smile in respect, until she heard that last part. That's when she said, "Why thanks. That means so much more than you would think."

I stared with confusion, replaying my words, and then hers inside my head. Her response just didn't make sense. "What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, trying hard to understand her odd behavior.

"Just that I appreciate your compliment. Nothing else," she responded.

"Oh." I could think of nothing else to say, and I didn't really understand, so I just looked at my shoes.

"What's your name?" she asked me, even though she looked like she knew the answer.

I looked down. "If I tell you, you won't go and tell some crazy lunatic guy and have him stalk me, right?" I knew it sounded crazy, but something about this girl just put me on edge. Her smile widened, revealing glinting, white teeth, and she started laughing again.

"I promise I wont have anyone stalk you, I just want to know your name."

"My name's Bella," I said curtly, annoyed that she had been laughing at me, even if what I said was idiotic to the extreme. I looked into her eyes, and saw that she was waiting to say something.

"So, you're the police chief's daughter, right?"

"Yeah," I said wearily "how do you know Charlie?"

She smiled again, but it was more of a patient smile than one of amusement. "I think most people in this town would know who the police chief is."

Even though what she said made absolute sense, I still wasn't so sure if I could trust her. I felt very comfortable around her, almost like an old friend, but there was just something about her. What was it? I needed to know more about her. Maybe if I'd seen her before, I would know why I felt this way.

"Well, what's your name? Do you live in Forks or what?" I asked

She looked unsurprised by my blunt question, as if she'd been expecting it.

"My name's Alice, and, no, I don't live in Forks. I'm just visiting the area."

"You're visiting the forest?" I hadn't meant for it to slip out, it just did.

She smiled again. "No, actually I was just walking through with my friend."

I was confused, "Your friend? Is he invisible?"

She laughed a little at my ridiculous question then answered, "I think he's just looking at some trees. I hear him coming. I'll go get him. I want him to meet you. You're fascinating."

I blushed scarlet again. I didn't like being treated as some experiment.

She had disappeared around the trees, and was heading back with a tall blond guy in tow.

She bounced, there's no other way to describe it, back over and said, "Bella, this is Jasper."

Alice moved a little closer to me, but Jasper stayed behind, a look of fierce concentration on his face as he looked at the back of Alice's head, almost as if he were fighting a battle and willing her to come back.

Alice seemed to understand his internal plea as she took a few quick backwards steps.

The guy named Jasper relaxed and looked at me with piercing yellow eyes. I stood up a little straighter, raised my chin, and stared right back.

Apparently this wasn't the response he'd been expecting because his eyes went a little wider and he turned to look at Alice and said, "She's curious and excited. A little untrusting too, but very comfortable. It's very strange. I think she was bored before when I brought the cat out, but we gave her something to think about."

He had spoken so quietly that I had to strain to hear it all. Once he had said something about a cat I blurted out, "Oh, so you were the one to bring Nate back? Thanks, I really appreciate that." I smiled up at him while he looked down at me in amazement. Alice, though, was smiling very proudly, like she'd won an argument. My smile faltered when Jasper glanced down at Alice with a complete expression of amazement on his face.

"What?" I asked, looking directly into Alice's eyes, "What did I do? If I wasn't supposed to hear that then I'm sorry. I have a tendency to listen in on conversations. My mom always called me her little spy. When we were at restaurants, she asked me to listen in on people's conversations to amuse herself. It was kinda weird." Once I realized what I was saying, I was horrified. I never talked this much. Why was I saying so much when talking to this odd pair?

While I was pondering that thought, I noticed Jasper lean down to speak to Alice again. His back must get tired, I thought, she's so short and he's so tall. Out of politeness for their conversation, I looked down at Nate. He was hissing and spitting and curling around my leg. That's odd behavior for him, he would usually just bite the people he doesn't like.

Even though I was trying not to pay attention to the conversation, I heard it anyway. "She has amazing hearing for a human," Jasper said. A human, I thought, if I was a human then what were they? I pushed this thought out of my mind; it was way too disturbing. "She isn't fazed by our presence. When I approached her, she became friendly and talkative. I told you she would act like this, but you wouldn't believe me" Alice had said that. Why would they have affected me? They were just people, hopefully. Thinking about this, I gulped. This caught their attention.

Jasper looked at Alice and said under his breath, "She's starting to feel the natural aversion. But her curiosity is stronger than it."

I glared at Jasper, "If you guys are going to talk about me, why not just say it aloud. And by the way, how come you think you know what I'm feeling? To tell the truth, I am starting to feel a little scared of you guys. You're all creepy and casual, and a meeting in the woods is just a little murderesque don't you think." I kept rambling on, and as I did, my voice got louder and louder. Jasper made a move towards me, but I stepped back before he could do anything. They were watching me like I was an ant in their science project. I was wary, and creeped out, and confused. I just wanted to go home and read. It wasn't fair that I had to be here in Forks. I hated it here.

As the tears started to drip down my cheeks, Jasper said, "Bella, it's okay. We'll walk you back to Ms. Gershwin's house. Right Alice?" He looked towards her. "Of course we will. Jasper will carry the cat, and we'll walk you back." She looked at me and smiled, a pleading look coming into her eyes.

I looked up at them, wanting to trust them, but something was keeping me on edge. Maybe it was the amount of cleaning products back at cat lady's house that was getting to my head.

"O.K. I'll go with you, but I don't feel like I can trust you," I said apologetically.

"That's fine Bella, we're used to that." Alice said.

Used to it? What did that mean? I looked at her confusedly. She sighed and shook her head. I guess I'd never find out.

I waited while Jasper approached Nate, trying to to pick him up from his low, defensive crouch on the forest floor. But Jasper tried in vain. Nate just kept backing up and moving until he was up against my legs again.

"It's okay Jasper, I'll carry him," I said, slightly disturbed by the growl I was pretty sure I heard come from Jasper. He smiled towards me and nodded his head while Nate practically climbed into my arms.

I walked back down the path with Alice and Jasper walking quietly behind me.

As I approached the house, I saw Ms. Gershwin look up from her gardening. "Is that your grandmother?" asked Jasper.

"Are you kidding?" I asked back "She would probably drown her grand children in lace and cat fur if she weren't careful." I rolled my eyes.

Alice had a bemused expression, so I clarified. "She's absolutely obsessed with cats and lace. It covers her whole house. It's no wonder that she never married."

They both laughed a little, then turned back to me.

As I looked into their beautiful faces I decided that I would try to find them every single time I came back to Forks. I would look for them, and try to get an explanation from them.

Alice's face suddenly went hard and cold, while her eyes were distant and glazed over. Jasper watched her protectively, and glanced at me with guarded eyes. I was about to ask, but Alice was already speaking.

"Here Bella, you're going to need this. Hold out your hand and close your eyes." I looked at them with apprehension but did what she asked.

I felt something cold and hard drop into my palm, and I closed my fingers around it instantly. When I opened my eyes, I saw that I was holding a thin silver ring with one small purple stone in it. Along the inside edge was a small engraving. When I peered closer I saw that it said "music's silver sound". I ran that through my head and realized that I had just read it.

"Hey Alice?" I said.

"Yeah Bella?"

"That's a quote from Romeo and Juliet, isn't it?" I asked. She looked at me with respect. "Yeah, it is. I loved that quote. When I read it, I thought it was a beautiful line." I nodded, completely in agreement with her.

I wanted to ask her something else about Shakespeare, but Jasper said, "Sorry Bella. We can't stay. Our friends will be wondering where we went."

"Oh, O.K. Jasper. Alice, nice to meet you." I nodded at both of them, and walked back to the frilly house.

As I walked, I slipped the ring onto my finger and felt the icy cold that emanated from it. The ring was smooth, and fit very snugly on my finger. I vowed then and there that I would never take it off. This ring represented the only excitement I had ever found in Forks


	2. Bathhouse Morning

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer. I only own this shiny purple ring.**

**Chapter 2-Bathhouse Morning**

I nervously rubbed my finger over the smooth gem of my ring as I drove up to the school parking lot. This was a nervous habit I'd picked up over the years. I could feel the silver setting of the ring, cold and hard, against my sticky skin. Even though I had layered my clothes, almost protectively, over one another, I could still feel the icy wind blow through each layer.

I shivered, even though the heaters were blasting, nearly wheezing, out the warm air.

The old red truck made a loud groan as I pulled to a stop in front of a small building on the campus.

I longed to climb back into the warm-ish truck cab as I stepped out into the freezing wet air, clutching my rain jacket closer so it wouldn't blow away in the wet, icy, wind.

I made my way into the cozy little main office of Forks High School. The stout woman behind the desk looked up at me, her eyes brightening with excitement, and said, "Can I help you dear?"

"Yes," I responded, trying not to whisper the words into my jacket collar, "My name's Isabella Swan, the n-" I didn't even have to finish my sentence, a flash of recognition passed through her eyes and she started digging furiously through a stack of papers.

I inched closer towards the desk, hoping that I could leave quickly. The woman held up some sheets. I quickly stretched out my hand to retrieve them, but she pulled back. I looked at her, my eyebrows furrowing.

"This is your schedule, and this..." Oh, she was going to explain everything, only to get more time with the chief's daughter, of course. I sighed, trying hard to conceal my blush behind my many collars without looking odd.

Absentmindedly, I started spinning my ring around my finger, over and over again.

"Oh, and I'm Mrs. Cope if you need anything dear," she said.

"Oh, um, thanks Mrs. Cope. I appreciate your help." I smiled tightly, not enjoying the spotlight.

"It's my pleasure Isabella," she responded with a warm smile.

I stretched my hand out, not trying to be rude, but desperately wanting the papers so I could leave.

I stepped a little bit closer, placing my cold, sticky hands on top of the slippery counter. My ring made a soft _dink_ as it clacked against the plastic-like material.

Mrs. Cope's meaty hand plopped on the counter with the papers slowly fluttering down, spinning in circles as they moved through the air.

"What a beautiful ring," she breathed. I could feel her hot breath against my face.

"May I look?" she asked, peering up at my face.

"Of course," I replied, more brusquely than I had been intending to. I just wanted to escape this office. It seemed to be shrinking by the second.

She grasped my hand and turned it in hers, looking at all sides of the lovely purple stone entwined in the silver band.

"My, wherever did you get this ring? It's absolutely gorgeous!" Mrs. Cope exclaimed after a couple minutes of thorough examination.

I clearly remembered that the beautiful stranger had not been a friend, but just that, a stranger. It would be quite odd for me to admit to receiving the ring from someone I'd just met in the forest. We were in Forks though, so there weren't many other places to meet. But that was beside the point.

"It was a present from a friend," I replied vaguely, hoping to sound nonchalant.

"What a good friend then," Mrs. Cope gushed, still staring at my hand resting on the counter.

I jerkily pulled away, walking towards the exit.

"I'd better be off. Thanks for your help," I called behind me.

"Oh, no problem dear. Come ba-"

But the wind slammed the door closed with a loud thunk that cut off the rest of her words.

OoooooOoooooO

I walked to the cafeteria, led by a peppy brunette whose name had slipped my mind. I slowly walked behind her as she practically bounced to the doors. Even though she was _very_ energetic, she was nice, and she offered to let me sit with her at lunch. Lunch was the part of the day I was dreading.

I stood in the line while listening to her chatter about her friends and how wonderful they were. I nodded in the right spots and said that I couldn't wait, even though inside I was trying to find a way out of meeting all these people.

With food in hand we walked to a large table in the middle of the room. There were already six kids sitting and eating. They all looked up and waved hello to my energetic leader, and once noticing me, staring with wide mouths. One blond girl sneered at me and went back to her eating. Another girl with long brown hair cleared the spot next to her and tapped it gently. Nervously smiling, I sank onto the hard chair beside the girl and wished a hole would open in the floor and swallow me whole.

After many boring questions, I glanced up from the mesmerized faces of the kids around me, and looked around the room. All of the tables were filled; actually, they looked more than filled. The funny thing was, though, that there was an empty table in the corner of the room. But all of the students ignored the table as if it weren't there.

"Jessica?" I asked, remembering the name of my energetic leader.

"Yeah?" she said, swallowing a sip of her water.

"Why isn't anybody sitting at that table?"

She looked at me confused.

"That table, over in the corner," I clarified, pointing towards it.

"Oh, the Cullen's aren't here today. That's their table, nobody else sits there," she said giving a shrug and returning to her water.

"Ever," she quickly added, as if forgetting the importance of it.

Something about the way she said it made me curious. "Why not? Is there something wrong with them?" I knew I was prying, but I wanted more information.

"No, there's nothing _that_ unusual about them," she replied huffily.

Her annoyed attitude flustered me. Why was she annoyed about my questions?

"What're their names? Maybe I've seen them before on my visits," I asked.

"You probably haven't seen them Bella. They moved here two years ago."

"Oh. Well maybe Charlie's mentioned them before," I said, trying to force the information out of her.

She gave me a look then practically spat out, "Their names are Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, Edward, and Alice." I could hear the venom fill her voice as she recited the list. After she finished, she turned and started up a conversation with the girl next to her.

Alice, I thought, that was the name of the girl who'd given me the ring. Maybe she's the same person! And that guy's name was Jasper. There really aren't that many Jaspers around now. It's probably the same people. But that wouldn't make sense if they were the same people. I met them when I was twelve, and they looked as if they were in college.

I became slightly disappointed. I'd been waiting for the day that I would meet them again.

Well, that's okay. At least I met them once.

I hadn't noticed, but while I'd been thinking, the girl named Lauren had been staring, no, glaring was the right word, at my hand. I looked down and saw that her gaze was on my ring.

Ugh, I thought, what is it with small towns and my ring?

I quickly pulled my hand off the table, tucking it in my lap. I nervously rubbed the purple stone while waiting for Lauren's gaze to leave my face.

She finally turned away after Jessica asked her a question three times.

OoooooOoooooO

We were doing rollarskating in gym.

I just want to ask, why? I'm not stable enough as it is walking in sneakers. This is just too much!

I went in my room and fell onto the bed. All this pent up annoyance was making me tired. I unzipped my backpack and pulled out my homework in one swift movement. I read through the book list looking for something that I hadn't already read a couple thousand times.

Nope, I've read them all. This was going to be boring, but familiar at least.

I really had nothing else to do, so I walked down to the kitchen, looking for something to cook for dinner.

I searched high and low. I looked through all the cupboards, and even searched the back of the fridge.

Argh, I thought while walking to the sink, why does Charlie have no food?

Apparently the only food he did have had melted to the fridge and then got stuck to my hand. There was now had a brown mystery substance stuck to my wrist, and it was so stubborn that it wouldn't come of, even after harsh scrubbing.

I marched out to the truck, quickly grabbing food money and my rain jacket on the way out the door.

Walking into the grocery store was just as calming as it always had been. It was a simple chore that I had performed weekly in Phoenix; it just felt right.

I grabbed everything I would need for the next couple nights and went to check out. I loaded my food onto the old counter, waiting while a younger looking girl with bleached blond hair scanned the items.

The rain made little clacks as it hit the roof, and the scanner made a loud beep in the silence of the store. I glanced at my shoes, trying not to notice the silence surrounding me.

While handing the cashier my money, she glanced down at my hand and saw the ring. This wasn't that bad. But her eyes started to glaze over and her breathing slowed down. She slowly leaned forward, her straw-like hair falling in front of her face, and placed one finger gently on the ring.

This was weird, what was she doing? I looked at the girl's nametag. "Hello, my name is Debbie. Welcome to Thriftway." Was printed in bright red letters.

"Um, Debbie. Here's the money," I said shaking the green bills towards her.

"What, oh, I'm….Oh, yes, the money. Sorry," she said hurriedly, hiding her eyes and fidgeting with her sleeve.

I could sense her embarrassment so I smiled and replied, "It's okay. Have a nice afternoon."

The shopping cart clattered and squeaked as I pushed it out of the automatic doors.

How strange that was, I mused while loading the bags into the truck bed, what was wrong with that girl? It couldn't have been the ring, that would be way too odd.

I looked down at the ring, hoping that it would show me something. Nothing happened. I moved it in the air, letting it sparkle brightly in the meager light.

I sighed, I would never figure this out.

While walking to the cab, I noticed that the woman on my right was staring at me with a full bag of groceries on the ground while a can of soup was rolling away. She didn't seem to notice. Her eyes were focused on me and only me. I tried to ignore it, but it feels weird knowing that someone is watching you.

I climbed in the cab gratefully, wanting to be anywhere but here.


	3. The Sixth Station

**A/N: I have a link to a picture of Bella's ring on my profile. There is a direct quote from Midnight Sun in here.**

**I really want to get more reviews on this version than I did in the original. So…I want 21 reviews. That's how much I had in total for chapters 1, 2, and 3. That's only 15 more reviews. Not terrible.**

**The beginning of this chapter is not wonderful, but it gets better towards the end.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer. I only own this shiny purple ring.**

**Chapter 3-The Sixth Station**

Stepping into the cafeteria, I looked around to see where Jessica was sitting today. Last night, she had called me to ask how my first day was. Apparently I was forgiven for what I'd done.

While looking for Jessica, I noticed that the table in the far off corner was now filled. There were five students sitting there, each one was gazing off in different directions. I looked at each of them, trying to find out why Jessica had acted so strangely yesterday. There were three guys and two girls, each one unique and different from anyone I'd ever seen…besides the two strangers I'd met in the forest so long ago.

I looked at the girl first. She was small and her features were sharp, but seemed to soften the more I looked. Her hair was short and inky black, like a shadow pooled around her face. This was a girl I would know anywhere. My breathing shortened and my heart started beating quicker as I became more excited. This was the girl, it was _her_. Alice.

And the guy sitting across from her perfectly matched my memories of Jasper. This was just too much. I couldn't believe my eyes.

I wanted to find a reason to go over and talk to her, but I was too nervous. What would I say? Would she remember me? Would she talk to me or ignore me?

I couldn't figure out what to do, so I turned around to walk over to Jessica's table. In mid stride I crashed into something, or someone to be more exact. Jessica had been standing behind me for who knows how long.

"Oh, sorry Jessica. I didn't see you there," I said apologetically.

"Yeah, well, I was just coming over to let you know that you can sit with us today. You were standing there for a long time so I thought that I would come and get you." She started walking away, and I quickly followed after, pulling my eyes away from Alice and Jasper.

OoooooOoooooO

Her hair, it looks exactly the same. How can that be? It's still spiky short and the same exact color. Almost as if it hasn't grown at all. Same with his hair; honey gold, and pooling around his face. That's so strange. Even their heights are the same. She's just as tiny as I remembered, and he's just as tall. Neither of them has changed in any way. At least not physically.

I was still staring at their table, something that everybody else had noticed. I could hear them laughing and mocking me behind their hands, but that didn't matter. I _had_ met them before, contrary to everyone else's beliefs. They'd all said that the Cullen's had moved from Massachusetts and that the Cullen's said this was their first time in Washington. But I didn't believe them. I _had_ met them, I _had_ talked to them, and I _would_ talk to them again.

I glanced down at my food tray, only to notice that I'd pulverized my granola bar into tiny mouse-sized crumbs. Well, that's okay, I wasn't hungry.

I took a swig of my lemonade and looked around the table, only to see that everyone was looking at me. They were still staring, their eyes glazed over, and their gazes never faltered, never leaving my face. I could feel the heat creeping up my neck after being so strangely put into the spot light. My hands started shaking and I had to put down my lemonade bottle. I peeked back at everyone and, to my surprise and relief, nobody was looking at me, they were all talking to each other or eating their lunch.

That was the weirdest thing _ever_. I pushed the incident to the back of my head, and glanced back over at the Cullen's table. To my embarrassment, the bronze haired boy and Alice were both staring at me. Her gaze was filled with respect and anticipation, while his was filled with confusion and annoyance. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't help but stare at his deep topaz eyes. I'd never seen eyes like that before on anyone except for Alice and Jasper. It was strange that all three of them had the same eyes, but wonderful. So deep, it was like falling in a sea of rich honey.

Absentmindedly, I started spinning my ring around my finger, over and over. They seemed to notice that because Alice's eyes widened in excitement and her mouth started moving quite quickly. The boy, Edward from what I'd been told, was still staring at me while he shook his head in response to what Alice was saying.

I was still staring straight at him, and I could feel my cheeks flaming, but I couldn't look away.

…_odd, because of the depth of them; brown eyes often seemed flat in their darkness…_

The words floated into my mind. Confused, I looked around. Who had said that? But the voice had a very musical quality. It sounded a lot like Jasper's voice, but different.

I glanced back at Edward, who was still looking at me, and something in my head told me that he had said it. But that wasn't possible, he was nearly half way across the cafeteria.

I jerked my head back down to the table, feeling the heat rise in my face.

OoooooOoooooO

I had biology next, this subject was pretty easy. Back in Phoenix I was in AP Bio, which was something that Forks High didn't have.

As I walked into the classroom the sharp smell of alcohol hit me. I moved to sit at the lab table that Mr. Banner had assigned to me yesterday. I was glad that I was sitting alone, this way I could work quickly and efficiently on the labs.

I sat down and pulled out my bio notebook, opening it to a clean page. My hand moved across the page and doodled randomly around the edges.

I heard the chair next to me scrap gently across the floor. I looked up in surprise, not expecting to be sitting next to someone, but then I saw the bronze hair and topaz eyes and was instantly relieved.

Relief? That was strange, why was I feeling relieved? I quickly pulled my head down, and halfheartedly went back to my doodling.

I sneakily peaked up at him through the barrier that I had made with my hair only to notice that he was glaring at my notebook. I glanced up into his eyes wanting to feel lost again, but his eyes weren't the wonderful topaz from just a few minutes ago. They were a dark black that just screamed anger and hate.

How could his eyes go from topaz to black in a matter of minutes? It just wasn't possible. But I was sure that they had. This was just so confusing! I wanted to talk to him, but I couldn't bring myself to talk to this confusing stranger. His eyes were so cold, so menacing, so terrifying! I looked down at my notebook, realizing that I'd been doodling a pair of deep black eyes.

I found myself shivering in spite of the heat blasting from the vents in the room. I looked back at his face and noticed that he was glaring at _me_ now, not my notebook.

I shrank back against my chair, shivering, and terrified. How could he hate me that much? He hadn't seemed mean during lunch.

I decided that I would try to just concentrate on the lesson. It didn't work very well. I peaked back up at him to see that he was still glaring at me, but now his hands were balled into tight fists, grounding against each other menacingly.

I looked back at my notebook, trying to block all thoughts of Edward out of my head. It didn't really work because he was still sitting right next to me, but some part of my brain had been quieted, and I stopped thinking of him.

I glanced to my side, to see if he was still glaring. Surprisingly, he wasn't. He looked very calm and peaceful, the exact opposite from how he was acting before.

Hmm, that was odd, I wonder what happened.

I looked down at my notebook and started playing with my ring while coming up with ideas. Even in the low florescent lighting, the purple stone sparkled and shimmered like a star. The silver band seemed as if it was glowing. I smiled, admiring my favorite piece of jewelry, my only jewelry.

The classroom had grown strangely quiet. I looked up to see if maybe I'd missed something, but Mr. Banner was staring at me with the same glazed expression I'd seen on the kids in the cafeteria. I gasped, almost everyone in the classroom was looking at me that way, everyone except Edward. He was trying to glare at me, but I could see the confusion and annoyance fill his eyes. His gaze darted around the room and came back to me. I looked up at his face and saw that his eyes were now a deep golden-brown-black. I wrenched my gaze from his face, pulling in a ragged breath. I started playing with my ring again, not wanting to look at him, and too frightened to look at the distant students and Mr. Banner.

"Bella," a wonderfully smooth sweet voice whispered in my ear. I stopped breathing, and I looked up at him.

"Your ring," he said, pointing at my hand. I looked at him confusedly. He looked back at me as if I was missing something obvious. All I could do was stare at him in confusion.

He sighed and made to grab my hand. He glanced at me again and I couldn't help but stare into deep abyss of his eyes. They looked even darker than before.

"Just put your hand under the table," he nearly growled, then he snapped his mouth shut and turned away.

My heart was pumping in double time, and I could feel my face glowing with a new blush. I stuffed my hand under the table. Almost as if someone had flicked a switch, all the students went back to writing and Mr. Banner started giving his lecture again.

My head started spinning and I could feel myself going faint.

I wrenched my gaze away from him. I felt the wonderful cool air fill my lungs and my body seemed to restart.

"Okay everyone, class is over. Have a wonderful afternoon," Mr. Banner announced to the class.

I looked up to thank Edward, but he was already walking out the door.

I looked down at my ring and saw it sparkle in the light. The boy walking past me dropped his books and stared. I quickly looked away and stuffed my hand in my pocket. This day was getting weirder and weirder.

OoooooOoooooO

I walked into the girls' locker room and grabbed my clothes from my locker. I had to change for this period, even if we were only rollerblading. I sighed, rollerblading was a deadly sport for me. Especially since the teacher was making us go off ramps, and through tubes, and perform tricks. I quickly changed and sat on the bench thinking about biology.

"Bella?" I heard someone whisper behind me. I turned, looking to see who had called my name.

I saw a small pixie-like girl standing there, beaming hugely with wonderful golden eyes. She opened her mouth and spoke with the most enchanting voice, "I _knew_ we'd find you again."

**A/N: IMPORTANT: Incase you didn't read the author note at the top, I said that I want 21 reviews! Please help me get more reviews than I had on the original story!**

**Pengirl**


	4. A Road to Somewhere

**A/N: So, this chapter is not all that good. It's really hard to change what I've already written without deleting the whole thing and starting fresh. Anyway, I got really close to the reviews I want and now I want 23!**

**Yup, 23 reviews. That's not terrible; only 11 more. So, enjoy this chapter and please REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer. I only own this shiny purple ring.**

**Chapter 4-A Road To Somewhere**

I saw a small pixie-like girl standing there, beaming hugely with wonderful golden eyes. She opened her mouth and spoke with the most enchanting voice, "I _knew_ we'd find you again."

"What?" I said, a slight shake in my voice. She beamed at me. I gripped the bench, trying to hide my trembling.

"What did you just say?" I asked again, a little louder this time. The air around me seemed to shrink and I couldn't see anything besides the little pixie girl standing before me.

She smiled hugely and shrugged. "I'm just glad that I can finally talk to you! I've been waiting for so long for you to come back," she said as she walked over and sat beside me on the bench.

"I told them that you'd be coming back one day, and that you would find us again. They didn't believe me. Which was a little weird since I'm usually right about this kind of stuff. And they know that. Anyway, I said you'd be seeing me again, so here I am!" She looked at me, excited and waiting for me to speak.

"Why haven't you changed?" I asked stupidly. I knew that I shouldn't have voiced that particular thought, but it'd been swirling around my mind ever since lunch. I just had to ask it.

"You look exactly the same," I said quietly, speaking to my lap. I was a little embarrassed that I'd even said it. "Why?" I continued.

"Why Bella, now's not the time for those sorts of questions. We've got to get to gym."

It was obvious that she was avoiding my question.

I looked around. The locker room was filled with girls changing and talking and laughing.

It was a little odd since I didn't remember any of them being there. I was dazed, and very confused when Alice pulled on my arm. I slipped off the bench and landed on my butt on the hard, cold tiles.

Alice looked down at me, rolled her eyes, and held out her perfectly smooth, white hand. I grabbed it and pulled myself up.

Her hands were freezing. They were just as cold as Edward's hands. Why were their hands so cold?

She quickly pulled away and started walking. "Are you coming Bella?" she called over her shoulder as she walked through the door, letting it swing shut behind her.

Girls were staring at me wide-eyed and watching me with curiosity. I blushed a deep scarlet, and quickly followed Alice away from all the staring.

OoooooOoooooO

I rubbed my hip where I'd smacked it against the ramp. I'd probably have a bruise in the morning. I rolled as best I could over the bleachers, trying not to fall in the process. Alice was already sitting there, rollerskates off, and filling out today's reflection sheet. I managed to skate over there without hurting myself further.

I sat down on the bleachers with as much grace as a marionette that's strings were just cut off. I lifted my foot up and unbuckled one skate. I started puling it off, but it was stuck. I pulled harder but it wouldn't budge. I pulled as hard as I could and the skate slipped off my foot and came barreling towards my head. I ducked, but I still got hit really hard.

"Stupid rollerskates," I mumbled. Alice looked over and started laughing. It was such a sweet sound-just like wind chimes. I tried my best to glare, but she just laughed harder.

"It wasn't that funny," I said while blushing a deep scarlet.

"Yes it was!" Alice blurted out between her laughs.

I looked down and pulled of the other skate a little more carefully. Coach Clapp handed me a sheet, looking at me with a cross between a smirk and a look of pity on his face. I blushed deeper and got to work on the reflection.

_What was your favorite part of today's class? Why? _ The sheet read. Hmm, I thought, I'd say tripping over my own two skates and then falling and smashing my hip against the ramp. That was the _best_ part of today's class. I sighed and wrote, Being able to skate around the gym _once_ without falling. I filled out the rest of the questions in the same way. Alice had been sitting next to me, tapping her fingers and sighing. When I finally finished she grabbed my hand and said, "Come on Bella, lets go change!"

Alice had been treating me like her best friend throughout the whole period. She skated with me, helped me when I fell, and even mocked me once or twice. Now I'm not saying that I didn't have fun, but I've only known Alice for about forty-five minutes. She seemed to know a lot about me, while I knew barely anything about her. The only stuff I did know was that she was wild, crazy, a little insane, always freezing cold, had four siblings, and her last name was Cullen. That's like a drop of water in the mysterious waters known as Alice.

On the other hand, she knew almost everything about me, almost as if she'd been following me my entire life. It was creepy. She knew about my old home and school, she knew about my life here. She even had my class schedule memorized.

I walked into the locker room slightly dazed. I stood in front of my locker, lost in thought, trying to come up with the best way to ask Alice about _her_ strange life.

"Bella," Alice said exasperatedly, "You have to change. Come on."

She grabbed my clothes and pushed them into arms. I stripped down and changed quickly, wanting to talk with Alice as soon as possible.

"Alice," I asked, "Was that really you back in the forest?"

"I was in the forest? I don't remember being in the forest very recently. Maybe you saw someone else," she replied breezily, not looking at me at all.

"No, I'm absolutely positive it was you. I talked to you, and you gave me this ring," I said while walking out of the locker room and holding my hand out for her to see.

"Oh that ring is so beautiful!" Alice replied, obviously dodging the question.

"Yes, I know. You should too because you gave it to me," I said, trying to steer the topic back to my interrogation.

She looked at me slyly, watching my face intently-it was almost like she was waiting for something.

I sighed. "Alice, will you please just tell me what you're going to say. I'm dying of curiosity over here."

"I did used to wear a ring very similar to that, but it wasn't mine," she replied vaguely.

"Oh, whose was it?"

"A friend's…or maybe Rosalie's."

I was stumped. She wasn't answering my questions, or letting out _any_ information. Hmm, what to ask next? I did want to know more about her family…

"Hey Alice, what about your family. What're they like?" I asked, a little more enthusiasm in my voice than I'd intended.

"What do you want to know?" she asked warily.

"Well…First of all, which one's which?" I asked as we reached my truck.

Alice laughed, "Okay, I'll tell you."

I climbed into the drivers seat while Alice climbed into the other side.

"Well, since I only have one sister, she's obviously Rosalie."

"Yeah, I figured that one out," I said, laughing a little as I started the engine.

"Okay, now for my brothers. Emmett has dark brown hair, and he's very big. He's tall and has a lot of muscles," Alice paused.

"Continue!" I not so subtlety urged her as I pulled out of the parking lot and started driving down the highway. She gave me an exasperated look and continued.

"Edward has reddish-bronzy hair."

Yeah, his hair's quite amazing.

"He's pretty tall and thin, but he's strong. No doubt about it." She said that last part so quietly that I assumed I wasn't meant to hear.

"Okay Alice, what about your last brother?" I asked, even though I knew the answer. She didn't respond.

"Alice?" I asked again. She still didn't say anything. I quickly pulled into my driveway and looked over at her.

Her face was hard and cold; her eyes were distant and glazed over, but they were moving rapidly back and forth. I'd seen that look on Alice before, about four years ago.

"Alice?" I asked, a little more scared this time.

"Alice!" I shrieked. I was so worried; I leaned over and put my hands on her shoulders.

I suddenly saw a gruesome picture in my head. There was a car crash and it was furiously raining. Edward was standing in woods nearby.

I shook my head and leaned in close to Alice's face, looking directly into her pitch black eyes. Wait, weren't her eyes golden this afternoon? How did they do-

"Umm, Bella, would you mind?" Alice said.

"Oh, right, sorry Alice," I mumbled while scooting back over to my side of the bench.

"Um, actually Bella I have to go. I'll see you soon, bye," she said. I watched as she got out of the car. I called out a quick "Bye Alice!" in reply.

I got out of the car and started walking towards the house. Then I realized that Alice would have to walk back to school since I drove her to _my_ house. "Oh Alice!" I yelled while spinning around to where Alice had left. She was nowhere to be seen. "Alice!" I called out. She didn't respond. I ran over to the road and looked to see if she was walking away, but there was no one, not even any cars were driving by.

"Where did she go?" I murmured to myself.

Well, this was something else to put on my list. I would need to go over this later, the list was getting long.

**A/N: Remember, I want 23 reviews, and THANK YOU SO MUCH for reading!**


	5. Shadows on the Moon

**A/N: So, I thought that a new chapter would be up for Halloween! **

**Anyway, this chapter is short, not that well written, and is a bit of a filler even though it does have some plot purpose. **

**Please review, I'd love to hear your thoughts. **

**So ENJOY! And HAPPY HALLOWEEN!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer. I only own this shiny purple ring.**

**Chapter 5-Shadows on the Moon**

Beep! Beep! Plunk, plunk, plunk, beep! Plunk, plunk, beep!

Ugh, I rolled over and hit the snooze button on my blaring alarm clock. Plunk, plunk, plunk, plunk plunk plunk plunk plunk plunkplunkplunk plunkplunkplunk!

I hit the button again, but the noise kept coming. Argh! I got up and sleepily walked over to the window. It was pouring! The rain was so heavy that I couldn't even see across the street. Everything was covered in a light fog, and the light next to the front door looked like a small, yellow dot.

Stupid, stupid rain.

I walked back over to my bed a curled up into a little ball under the covers. I pulled the pillow over my head trying to block out the sound of the stupid water cascading down my window in sheets.

This wasn't working. I could hear the rain and I was already awake. It didn't help that I couldn't seem to get any sleep here, no matter what I did. I was exhausted, and it probably showed in the rings under my eyes.

I got up and pulled out my clothes for the day. A pair of black sweat pants, it wouldn't matter if they got wet, and a thick gray long sleeved shirt. The colors matched my mood. Grabbing my bag of toiletries, I went into the bathroom for my shower.

Stepping into the wonderfully warm water was, well, wonderful. I rubbed the last bit of sleep from my eyes, and thoroughly rinsed my hair and face. The thick strawberry scented shampoo smelled great as I brushed it into my wet hair. All the sleep, tension, and cold had left my body and escaped through the drain.

The peaceful serenity of the shower would have to be disrupted at one point. The thoughts of Alice and Edward kept swirling through my mind. I just couldn't understand them, or anything they did for that matter.

I rubbed my head vigorously, hoping to dig up some information from the recesses of my mind. This whole confusing puzzle stressed me more than I already was.

I sighed, thinking about seeing them again in school today. Even though most of me was confused and anxious, I was also excited.

Oh, school. It would terrible with all this rain.

Well, this was the only water I would enjoy all day. "Enjoy it while it lasts," I murmured to myself, turning the faucets up.

OoooooOoooooO

I stepped outside, bundled in warm clothes, my rain jacket, and boots. I sloshed through the mud to get to my car. I was already freezing and I'd only been outside for less than three minutes. I drove to school, driving extra slow so I could try to see through the windshield.

The wipers on the old truck made a terrible squeaking noise as they swished up and down across the puddles in my windshield. I could barely see; this was a nightmare!

After I parked, I jumped down from my truck and landed directly in a mud puddle. I ended up slipping and landing on my butt in the mud, and I dropped my car keys in the process.

"This is just a wonderful day," I said angrily to myself. I tried to look for them so that I wouldn't have to crawl around, but it didn't work. I would have to search on my hands and knees.

This was just wonderful!

I got down and worked my way through the puddle, througholy covering my face and chest with mud in the process.

People kept staring at me as they ran by, trying to make it to their classrooms as dry as possible.

I finally found them in the recesses of the puddle under my car.

I tried to shake the dirt and mud off, but I just ended up smearing it all over my self. There was mud caked under my nails and I could feel it hardening under my hood.

This was just wonderful, and I was late for class.

After running like a maniac to my class, I stepped in the door as discretely as I could and made my way to my seat. It didn't really help that there was water and mud dripping off me from every possible surface. As soon as my butt hit the chair, I started squeaking as water and mud rubbed against the plastic. People stared at the disgusting mess that had formed a suit over me. I smiled uncertainly back, and tried to get through the class without talking.

OoooooOoooooO

"What happened to you?" Jessica asked, completely shocked as I walked with her to lunch. The mud had hardened and caked onto my skin, it was now impossible to scrub off without a proper shower.

"Um, I fell?" I explained, my answer sounding more like a question. She gave me an exasperated look.

"I fell in a mud puddle when I was getting out of my car," I murmured into my chest, blushing under the mask of mud.

"Oh, that makes sense," she sneered and started walking away to sit down at the table.

I searched the lunchroom, looking for Alice. I'd come up with more questions for her, and I was dying to know what she'd say.

But, just like my first day at Forks High, the table in the far corner was completely empty. I was througholy disappointed so I bought a bottle of soda and sat down next to Jessica. Everybody stared at me, probably wondering how I came to be covered in mud.

"Please, don't ask," I told them all. I just wanted to wallow in my own disappointment.

When the period ended I walked to the cafeteria door and was surprised by what I saw. The rain had stopped and the sun was happily glowing in the sky. All the rain puddles were sparkling as the rare sun shined off its reflective surface.

I held my ring up to see it sparkle in the rare sunlight, but it was covered in hardly packed, dried mud. I tried chipping it off, but my nails were filled with it too.

I walked into biology trying to feel happy about the sun and the end of the day, but all I could think about was the Cullens. Where were they? What were they doing?


	6. Day of the River

**A/N: Yeah for me! I put up another chapter! **

**Anyway, this one is very short, again, I'm sorry. The information in this chapter is important, though. **

**So enjoy, and review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer. I only own this shiny purple ring.  
**

**Chapter 6-Day of the River**

Thursday, I hated Thursday! It always felt like Friday, but then you realize, no tomorrow's Friday. Stupid, stupid week. I wished it were Friday. I wanted to be at home doing anything, reading listening to music, anything but be at school waiting for Alice. Stupid Cullens, stupid Thursday, stupid Forks.

As I drove up to the school, I saw Alice walking towards the doors with Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett. Where was Edward? Maybe he was just still at their car. Whatever, Alice was here now! I couldn't wait until gym! Me wanting to go to gym? This was something new. I just couldn't wait to talk to Alice so I parked quickly and started walking fast to the shelter of the school.

"Alice!" I called after her. She had stopped in front of her locker, but quickly turned to face me. Her face was blank and her normally warm golden eyes seemed cold.

"Alice I have something I wanted to a-"she cut me off.

"Sorry Bella. I really have to go." She slammed the locker door and looked up into my eyes. Her eyes seemed to darken a couple shades, and she walked off and disappeared behind a mob of students.

How did her eyes do that?

I brushed off her cold behavior as anxiety. Maybe she had a test next period or something. I'd talk to her during lunch.

The next few classes went by slowly. Whenever I was anticipating something, time seemed to slow down just to tease me. The day felt like forever.

Lunch time, finally. I quickly stuffed my books into my bag and rushed out the door. I had to talk to Alice. I just had to.

I walked into the cafeteria and saw that three of the Cullen's were sitting there, but two of their siblings were missing. Edward still wasn't here and Alice was gone too. That's strange. When the family is here Alice is usually here.

I went and sat down next to Jessica, not even bothering with any food. No body talked to me, which was fine. I just watched the Cullen table, waiting for Alice to return.

"Bella. Bella? Hello, Bella?" some one asked.

"What?" I said turning my attention back to my friends.

"Why were you staring at the Cullen's table?" Jessica asked me. I blushed a deep red.

"I wasn't. I was just looking around," I lied. I'd always been a bad liar, but Jessica seemed to believe me because she pouted and started talking to Lauren.

I looked back towards the table in the corner, except this time my gaze was met by a pair of glaring ocher eyes. Rosalie was staring at me; her lips curled up into a grimace of disgust with her bright white teeth shining menacingly in the low lighting. Her blond hair fell in front of her face, and she jerked her head around in a blindingly quick motion. My heart jumped into my throat and started pumping in double-time. My breathing became shallow and quick.

Jasper looked over at her, looked at me, and smiled. My breathing started coming easier and I looked away. Everyone at my table was watching me.

"Excuse me," I mumbled and jumped from my table. I nearly ran to my truck and leapt inside.

OoooooOoooooO

My day was definitely going down hill. Edward wasn't in biology and I had to do one of the most annoying labs on earth by myself.

Alice didn't even go into the locker room to change. She rushed in, put her bag down and left. It was like she knew that I was planning to ambush her.

Then, during class, Alice wouldn't talk to me at all. I would approach her, which was hard to do in my rollerblades, but she would skate away very quickly. I tripped multiple times, and I didn't have anyone to help me up. Alice was the first one in the locker room, and the first one to leave. She was practically half way to her car by the time I got my rollerblades off.

I walked out to my truck, upset and disappointed. Alice had been so nice to me, and so energetic and fun. Now she was avoiding me. This sucked.

I got home and just wanted to lie in bed for the rest of my life! But tomorrow was Friday, one more day of school.

God, I hate Thursdays.

**A/N: I would love to have 37 reviews! Thank you!**


	7. Magnetic Electric

**A/N: So first of all, YEAH, this is my longest chapter so far! Also, there are direct Twilight quotes in here. Please don't hate me. I wanted to make sure that the information was presented correctly.**

**I'd love 41 reviews! Thank you and enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer. I only own this shiny purple ring.**

**Chapter 7-Magnetic Electric**

Wow. That's all I can say about this day, just…wow. Everything that happened was just confusing and, and, and…I just don't know! This whole week had been quiet and slow. Alice had been ignoring me as usual, and Edward was _still _not back in school. I had settled into my routine, and hadn't planned on changing that.

I still couldn't understand everything that happened today. There was just so much. Okay, maybe I need to go over it one more time.

So, it was Thursday, my least favorite day of the week, so of course, everything had to happen on this day.

_I walked into the lunchroom and looked at the table in the corner. I stopped, because instead of the regular four people sitting down, there were five. I let out a gasp and hurried to Jessica's table. My heart was beating fast and my breathing was labored. Why was he back? It was so sudden too. Why'd he have to come back on a Thursday? Why not Monday or Friday?_

_Why today of all days! It was disgusting out, raining on and off, torrential wind and the freezing cold. The cold that appeared so suddenly and then wouldn't leave. Everyday the news reported that it would snow, but it never came. There was still only rain. It had been cold for so long that my toes had been continually numb. That was just another fun perk I have to deal with. _

_But now, putting this next challenge on top of all the other challenges I was dealing with just wouldn't work. I couldn't deal with his strange silences and creepy eyes now. I had a plan and a schedule to return to, and he just wouldn't fit into it! _

_My anger and frustration was growing while I stared at the Cullen table, more specifically, at Edward._

_He just couldn't interrupt everything! I was do-_

_My internal rant was cut short because Edward and Alice were both looking at me now._

That was just so creepy and strange. They were both staring straight at me. I really should've asked what that was about…

_Alice's expression was worried and upset while Edward's was amused. I just kept staring at their, more specifically, his, face. His eyes were a deep golden brown, as rich as honey and just as sweet. I could feel my mouth turn up in an involuntary smile. I'd waited so long to see his eyes again, those wonderful, deep, rich, sparkling eyes. How I'd love to wake up every morning and look into his eyes and feel lost in the beauty and grace. No one elses eyes could ever compare. Any other eyes I'd see in my whole life would be a disappointment when I remembered his. _

_I sighed; I could sit here all day and night and just watch him. Watch his eyes, his face, his inhuman grace as he moved. There was something new about him every time I looked. Maybe it was his expressions. I'd never seen a face before that could show so many expressions yet hide them so well. His eyes were always the give away. They explained everything he was feeling, those wonderful golden windows to his soul. _

_I smiled happily, content with just watching him from afar. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to talk to him and sit closer to him, but so many things had happened that made that seem impossible._

_I tore my gaze away from the table in the corner and noticed that the cafeteria was nearly empty. I rushed to biology, not wanting to be late._

_I plopped down into my chair and waited for class to start. Mr. Banner had written, __LAB TODAY! BE PREPARED__, in big capital letters on the black board. I was excited, this would give me a chance to talk to him under normal circumstances._

_I felt, more than heard, when he sat down at the table. A jolt of excitement and worry ran through my body. I was so ready for this!_

"_Hello, my name is Edward Cullen. I didn't have a chance to introduce myself before. You're Bella Swan, right?" he asked in a wonderfully musical voice that I remembered much to well. But he was perfectly polite to me today; very different from the first time I'd spoken with him. He was waiting for me to say something. But I couldn't think of anything normal to say. I internally groaned; I so wasn't ready for this._

"_Is Alice ok? She's been acting a little strange lately," I managed to spit out._

_He laughed, "She's fine, I haven't noticed any differences in her. But I'll tell her of your concern."_

"_No," I persisted stupidly, "she was acting very strangely. Not her usual happy self."_

_He seemed confused, "Do you know her very well, then?"_

"_No, not really, but…" I decided to let it go, and looked away awkwardly._

_Mr. Banner thankfully started class at that moment. I tried to concentrate while he explained what we'd be doing._

It was pretty much a lab where we used a Bunsen burner, four different substances, and Petri dishes to grow "special" bacteria. Fire, chemicals, and me were never a good combination. Ever.

"_Okay everyone. Come up and take one Bunsen burner for your group," Mr. Banner called out. _

_Edward was out of his seat and back in a matter of seconds. He plugged it in and had a fire going before I could even blink. I looked at him, surprised. _

"_Ready partner?" Edward asked. I looked up to see him smiling a huge wonderful crooked smile. I nodded weakly, staring idiotically up at him. His smile faltered and I quickly looked away, blush creeping up my neck. _

_I grabbed the beaker and filled it with water while Edward collected the four test tubes from Mr. Banner's desk. I placed the tray over the flame and put the beaker on top. Pleased with my accident free job, I leaned back against my chair. Edward was already seated with the test tubes and petri dishes. He had already labeled the first dish with, __Substance 1__, in a wonderful curly script. He handed me two of the dishes to label. I didn't want to ruin them with my almost illegible scrawl, but he was waiting patiently. I labeled the dishes __Substance 3__ and__Substance 4__, and handed them back to Edward. _

_The water was boiling so we placed the four test tubes in the water and let them heat. They had to sit in the water for fifteen minutes, so we had some free time now._

"_It's too bad that it didn't snow, isn't it?" Edward asked. I had the feeling that he was forcing himself to make small talk with me._

"_Not really," I answered honestly. _

"_You don't like the cold." It wasn't a question._

"_Or the wet," I added._

"_Forks must be a difficult place for you to live," he mused._

"_You have no idea," I muttered darkly._

We talked like that for most of the time. He was asking questions about my life and Phoenix. Whenever I answered, he was absolutely fascinated by what I'd said. I still can't understand what I said that had him so captivated. I was just trying to be honest, nothing so interesting there.

"_You put on a good show," he said slowly, "but I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone see."_

_I grimaced at him and looked away._

"_Am I wrong?" _

_I tried to ignore him._

"_I didn't think so," he murmured smugly._

What was also strange was the fact that he read me so well. It's like he knew everything I was feeling and had felt since I'd been in Forks.

_Mr. Banner called out, "Okay everyone, it's been fifteen minutes. Take out your test tubes."_

_Without thinking, I reached across the table and grabbed one of the test tubes. I didn't even feel the heat for the first couple seconds. But as soon as I did, I let out a small scream. I didn't want to drop the test tube on the table, but I didn't know where else I should put it. _

_I was still holding the burning glass when Edward said hurriedly, "Just drop it Bella."_

_So I did. It fell against the table and splattered on the floor, the chairs, our books, and my face. I reached up to touch the spot where the over-boiled liquid had touched my skin. It stung and felt hot and raw across my cheek. _

_The pain started coming then, faster and faster until the tears started falling out of my eyes. I clamped my mouth shut, not wanting to start screaming or moaning in front of the whole class._

That was one of the stupidest things I've ever done. Now, just looking at my hand brought back all the pain and heat.

"_Come on Bella. I'm taking you to the nurse," a velvety voice said. I nodded, keeping my eyes closed and clutching my hand to my chest. I shuffled weakly out the door walking in what I could only assume was the way to the nurse's office. _

_The cool wind felt wonderful against my burning skin. I held out my hand and let the cold raindrops fall against the searing flesh. They fell against my skin and made a quiet sizzling sound. I stopped, ignoring the pulsating burning pain and watched the water evaporate on my hand. _

"_Bella hurry up. You need to get your hand treated!" his voice was saturated with anxiety and stress. I looked up into his eyes and saw the raw emotions playing across his face. Staring into his eyes the whole world fell away. All I could see was him. The cold wind, the searing pulsing pain, and the anxiety of the moment all fell away. I closed my eyes and it was just me and him and my mind floating away on the soft breeze that was suddenly blowing against my face. _

_I slowly opened my eyes and I was in the same position just lying down. I looked around confusedly and saw that I was in the nurse's office. My hand was wrapped in gauze and my cheek was layered with a cool hardened cream. I sat up and looked around._

"_What time is it?" I asked, panic dominating my voice._

_I jumped when the answering voice came from behind me. "The end of biology. Well, the beginning of last period really." _

"_Ugh, gym," I groaned._

"_I'll take care of that." I hadn't noticed Edward move to my side, but he spoke quickly and low in my ear._

"_Come stand behind me and start to tear up," he muttered._

_That wasn't a challenge; I tended to choke up easily, and this recent burn had left a constant reserve of tears held behind my eyes. I followed Edward into the main office and stood weakly behind him as he approached Mrs. Cope's desk._

"_Mrs. Cope?"_

"_Yes?"_

_I groaned and let one tear slip down my cheek._

"_Bella has gym next hour and I don't think she feels well enough. Actually, I was thinking I should take her home now. Do you think you could excuse her from class?"_

_I started sniffling and moaning to try and cover up my laughs. Mrs. Cope looked over at me and smiled sadly._

"_Do you need to be excused too Edward?" Mrs. Cope fluttered._

"_No, I'm fine, thank you."_

"_Okay it's all taken care of. You feel better Bella," she called to me. I looked up and flashed her my wide eyes and nodded weakly, hamming it up a bit. _

It was so awesome that he could get me out of gym. If he hadn't been here, I probably would've been too scared to do what he'd done.

_I followed Edward and he held the door for me. I walked out into the cold, fine mist that the rain had become. It felt nice as it cooled my face. _

"_Thanks," I said as he followed me out, "It's almost worth getting sick to miss gym."_

"_Anytime." _

_He was staring straight forward, squinting into the rain. _

That was when I started walking to my car, but he was like, no. I have to bring you home safely, blah, blah, blah. Now to me, this was annoying and amazing. I get to spend more time with him. Yeah! But, what about my car? Well, he said that Alice would drop it off. This was great too because I could see Alice again.

In the car he started asking more questions. This time about Renée and Phil. I really wanted to move the spotlight off of me so I asked him questions about his life. He was very brief and didn't really talk so much, but he answered all my questions.

_He glanced at the clock on the dashboard._

"_My brother and sister and Jasper and Rosalie are going to be quite upset if they have to stand out in the rain waiting for me."_

"_Oh, sorry. I guess you have to go." I didn't want to get out of the car._

"_And you probably want your truck back before Chief Swan gets home, so you don't have to tell him the whole story of the biology incident." He grinned at me._

"_I'm sure he's already heard, there are no secrets in Forks," I sighed._

_He laughed, and there was an edge to his laughter._

"_Have fun this weekend, enjoy the 'nice' weather." He glanced out at the sheeting rain._

"_Won't I see you tomorrow?"_

"_No. Emmett and I are starting the weekend early."_

"_What are you doing?" _

"_We're going hiking in the Goat Rocks Wilderness, just south of Rainier."_

_Oh, so he was a hiking person._

"_Oh, well, have fun." I tried to sound enthusiastic. I don't think I fooled him though. _

_I looked down at my bandaged hand playing strip of gauze, not sure what to do now. _

"_What are you thinking?" he asked curiously._

_I looked up into his deep golden eyes, became befuddled, and, as usual, blurted out the truth._

"_I'm trying to figure out what you are."_

_His jaw tightened, and he turned to look out the window._

"_Will you do something for me this weekend?" He turned to look me straight in the face, making me victim to his burning eyes once again._

_I nodded helplessly._

"_Don't be offended, but you seem to be one of those people who just attract accidents like a magnet. So…try not to get run over or anything, all right?" He smiled crookedly._

_The helplessness had faded as he spoke. I glared at him._

"_I'll see what I can do," I snapped as I jumped out into the rain. I slammed the door behind me with excessive force._

_He was still smiling as he drove away._

This Thursday was confusing, painful, and emotional. I didn't understand most of what happened. Ugh, at least the day was finally over. I could sleep peacefully and think it over again in the morning.

I looked at my bandaged hand. It looked like it belonged to a mummy. At least it wasn't my writing hand. Great, how was I going to make dinner with one hand and a useless stump? Well, I guess I'd figure it out. I better go tell Charlie what happened. This was going to be fun.


	8. Burning a Hole In My Head

**A/N: Yeah! Another chapter! ****A part of this chapter comes from ****Twilight****. Pages 124-127. It's almost a direct copy, but I changed some lines to fit into my story. The only reason I did this is because I didn't want to ruin the legend, and anything that I would write wouldn't be correct. Please don't hate me.**

**Enjoy and REVIEW! Please.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer. I only own this shiny purple ring.**

**Chapter 8-Burning a Hole In My Head**

It was finally Friday! This strange confusing week was over. I really had nothing to do. I bit of homework, not that much though, and cooking dinner for Charlie. That was just as easy as it sounded.

I pulled into the driveway, and carefully got out of the truck, not wanting to be swept away by the exceptionally powerful winds.

My truck had been in the driveway the first time I looked yesterday afternoon. I thought I would've at least heard Alice drive up.

Once inside, I made my way up to my room, and changed into warmer clothing. Contrary to the weather report, it had gotten colder and colder throughout the day, making my outfit feel as thin as paper.

I bundled up in thick sweat pants, a turtle neck shirt, two sweaters, and thick, fuzzy socks.

I placed a random CD in the player and got into my bed, pulling my sheets and blankets around my shoulders and across my waist. My teeth were chattering to the beat of some snappy show tune. This was definitely not my CD. I picked up the case and looked at the hand-written list of tracks. The song names were printed in Renée's small, curly script. This must have been accidentally put with my stuff. I would never have brought this if I knew what it was.

I desperately wanted to change the CD, but I was way too cold to get up. My teeth were chattering louder than the music, and my whole body was tensed and shaking. I lay down and curled myself into a ball, trying to lie in the warm space I'd made on the mattress.

OoooooOoooooO

"Bells, sweetie, wake up," someone gently whispered in my ear.

"Char-Dad? Is that you?" I asked into my pillow.

"What…Yeah, it's me," Charlie responded.

"What's up dad?" I asked while sitting up and pulling the blankets around my still freezing body.

"We were invited to a party down at Billy Black's place, in La Push. Do you want to go?" he asked excitedly. I looked at him, I couldn't remember the last time Charlie looked this excited about anything. How could I let him down?

"Sure dad, I'll go. But, who's Billy?" I asked.

"Oh you don't remember? He's my friend. We used to go fishing with him."

I still didn't remember. "Sorry dad, I still don't know who he is," I told him apologetically.

"Oh, well, you might remember his kids. Jacob, Rachel, an-"

"Yes, I remember them now." And I did. I could picture Billy and my dad in a fishing boat while I sat on the beach awkwardly with Jacob, Rachel, and Rebecca.

"Okay dad, lets get going," I said while standing up and pushing my feet into my boots. I struggled a little more than usual because I was wearing really thick socks, but at least my feet were warm. We walked out and climbed into Charlie's cruiser.

Charlie was lost in the excitement of seeing his friends again, and I was lost in the struggle of being warm enough to stay conscious.

OoooooOoooooO

Charlie pulled the cruiser onto a small patch if mud next to a tiny red house. There were lights on in all the windows and voices could be heard from inside. On the front porch, I could see the silhouette of a boy. As we approached the house, the boy looked up and smiled in recognition. He jogged over to us and said, "Hey Charlie. Long time no see."

"Hi Jake. You remember Bella, right?" he asked, gesturing to me.

"Yeah, of course I do." He smiled at Charlie then turned to me. "Hi, I'm Jacob."

"Hi," I murmured, my words so quiet they were almost lost in the roar of the wind.

"Lets get inside, its freezing," Charlie said. We all walked into the house, met by a wonderfully warm gust of air.

After being introduced to tons of people, most of whom I can't remember, I settled down on the couch letting the thankfully warm atmosphere filter through all my layers and warm my freezing bones. I was leaning back with my head against the pillows, eyes closed, letting my mind wander away from the quiet chatter, when I felt someone else sit next to me. I glanced up and saw Jacob watching my face closely. I blushed, looking away, uncomfortable.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you," he said quietly in his gruff voice.

"That's ok, I was just thinking. Nothing too important," I said jokingly. He laughed.

"You look really tired though," he pointed out.

"I really am. I just want to lay down and fall asleep," I said while stifling a yawn.

He smiled. "Go ahead. I'm not stopping you."

I made a show of grabbing a blanket, tucking myself in and closing my eyes. I even added a couple of snores for his benefit. "Hmm," I said, opening my eyes. "I feel like someone should dim the lights and read a story or something."

He watched me and his smile grew. He leaned over and turned off the lamp sitting on the coffee table, and cleared his throat. "Once upon a time…" he trailed off.  
"What happened?" I protested. "Where's the princess and the terrible step mother and the happily ever after?"

He glanced at me sheepishly. "I actually don't really know any fairy tales. But I can tell you some legends. Will that do?"

I fake pouted. "I guess so." I sighed and pretended to look dejected. He laughed again.

"Okay, I'll tell you the stories of the cold ones."  
**"The cold ones?" I asked, leaning in closer.

"Yes. There are stories of the cold ones as old as the history of our people, and some much more recent. According to legend, my own great-grandfather knew some of them. He was the one who made the treaty that kept them off our land." He rolled his eyes.

"Your great-grandfather?" I encouraged, not needing to fain interest.

"He was tribal elder, like my father. You see, the cold ones are the natural enemy of the wolf-well, not the wolf, really, but the wolves that turn into men, like our tribe's ancestors. You would call them werewolves."

"Werewolves have enemies?" I asked

"Only one. So you see, the cold ones are traditionally our enemies. But this pack that came to our territory during my great-grandfather's time was different. They didn't hunt the way others of their kind did-they weren't supposed to be dangerous to the tribe. So my great-grandfather made a truce with them. If they would stay off our lands, we wouldn't expose them to the humans." He winked at me.

"If they weren't dangerous then why…?" I trailed off. I tried to understand, struggling not to let him see how engrossed I was in the legends that he obviously didn't believe.

"There's always a risk for humans to be around the cold ones, even if they're civilized like this clan was. You never know when they might get too hungry to resist." He sounded spookily menacing during that last bit.

"What do you mean, 'civilized'?"

"They claimed that they didn't hunt humans. They supposedly were somehow able to prey on animals instead. At least that's what the leader, Carlisle, said. The other two males, Emmett and Edward had to prove it too."

"Emmett, Carlisle, and Edward are the names of the Cullen men," I said trying to keep my voice casual. "Are they related to the cold ones your great-grandfather met?"

"No." He paused dramatically. "They're the same ones."

He must have thought that my expression was fear inspired by his story. He smiled, pleased, and continued.

"There are more now, a new female and a new male, but the rest are the same. In my great-grandfather's time they already knew of the leader. He'd been here and gone before _your_ people even arrived." He was fighting a smile.

"And what are they?" I finally asked. "What _are _the cold ones?"

He smiled darkly. "Blood drinkers. Your people call them vampires."

I tried to suppress a shiver, but Jacob noticed.

"You have goose bumps." He laughed delightedly.

"You're a good storyteller," I complimented him while staring at the forest design in the quilt.

"Pretty crazy stuff, though, isn't it? It makes us sound like a bunch of superstitious natives, right?" he asked jokingly.

I looked up and smiled as normally as I could. "No. I think you're just a very good storyteller."**

"Thanks."

I yawned. It didn't really help that I was hearing all this information when I was so tired. I knew that there was something different about the Cullen's, and this fit really well, but it was just so ludicrous. I needed to go home and sleep. I would think this over in the morning.

"Hey Jacob, I'm really tired. I'm going to go see if Charlie is ready to go home," I told him.

"Oh, what, was my story too boring for you?" he asked.

"Oh yeah," I said playing along, "It put me right to sleep. I'll be right back."

I got up and went to search for Charlie. I found him in the kitchen talking animatedly to Billy.

"Hey dad, I'm really tired. I was wondering if we could, maybe, head back home?"

"Oh, ok Bells. We'll go if you really want to," he said to me with a sad face.

"Oh no dad," I said, "I'll drive back with Jacob, and he can drive the car back up here once I'm home. That way I can go to sleep and you can stay as long as you want."

"That's perfect Bells. I guess I'll see you at home."

I walked back to Jacob and told him the plan.

"Okay cool. I'll come with you," he agreed happily.

We stepped out the front door only to see that the weather was worse than before. It was pouring buckets and the wind had kicked up in overdrive. I had to yell just to make Jacob hear me.

"WHICH CAR SHOULD WE TAKE?" I asked.

"LET'S TAKE MY CAR. IT'S OVER THERE." He pointed towards the side of the house. We both started running for the car. I slipped a couple times in the mud, my pants and socks getting thoroughly soaked. I dived for the driver's door and leapt inside, panting for breath. Jacob, sitting beside me, was doing the same. I started the engine and blasted the heat, shivering inside all my soaking wet layers. "I'm s-s-so c-c-co-cold," I said, my teeth chattering.

"Seriously Bella, it's not that cold out. I'm warm and I just have a sweater on." I looked over at him to see if he was trying to be tough, but he looked sincere.

I pulled out of the driveway and started making my way back to Forks. I could barely see through the rain, so I compensated by driving a little slower than usual. We were sitting in a peaceful silence, except for the howling winds of course, when we ran over something.

"What was that?" Jacob asked.

"I have no idea. I didn't see anything, and that sounded like a big something." I started to break but the car wouldn't stop. I pressed down harder in my panic but the car just accelerated.

"Jacob!" I screamed. "The car's not stopping!"

"What the h-" But his curse was cut off by a loud crash.

**A/N: He he. Sorry about the cliff hanger, but please review and maybe I'll get it up faster. ***_**wink wink**_*****


	9. Lights Out For Darker Skies

**A/N: Thank you so much for your enthusiasm. It really made my day. So I thought I would treat you all with another chapter. I know it's short, but I did it on very short notice. So, please enjoy and review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer. I only own this shiny purple ring.**

**Chapter 9-Lights Out For Darker Skies**

Next thing I know, I'm gasping for breath with what feels like a thousand pounds of pressure on my stomach and chest. A warm, sticky substance was clouding my eyes and filling my mouth. I coughed the goo up, it tasted disgusting. I tried to bring my hand up to clear my eyes, but it was too painful to move.

"Jacob?" I rasped. "Jacob, where are you?"

No one responded. I turned my head, but my eyes were covered in goo. "Jacob?" I called again. All I could hear was the wind as it rattled around me. It sounded like a faint groan, and I could imagine somebody moaning my name, over and over.

I started moving around to see if I could get either of my arms loose, which was a stupid idea since everything started hurting-but I heard something. I kept completely still and I heard it again. It sounded like the clomp of huge feet. It was louder and louder, almost as if it were coming closer. Then I heard something new, a loud howling. It sounded like a wolf calling out to its pack members.

I tried moving around some more, but I heard metal break and something hit me directly in the stomach. Sharp shooting pains started working its way through my body. I bent over in pain, coughing and gasping for air, and everything went black.

OoooooOoooooO

It was as if I'd been thrown out of my body. I knew that I was unconscious, but I could still hear everything around me. I heard people screaming and the screech of metal being scrapped against metal. I heard the sirens of an ambulance faint in the background, but getting louder as it approached.

I could feel everything that was touching my body in any way. My soaking clothes rubbing uncomfortably against my skin; warm, sticky liquid covering my face and slowly dripping into my open mouth. No matter how much I willed my mouth to close I couldn't do it. Almost like I wasn't connected to my body anymore. I was just something inside it, along for the ride. I couldn't feel the pain, though, which was a good thing-not that hot searing pain, or the dull aching pain, or even the pain that made me feel as if I were being stabbed by a thousand dull knives. None of it affected me now.

I could smell everything too-so clearly and sharply. The burning, disgusting smell of blood, rust and salt, which I was trying to forget. The smell of wet air being blown around, passing my face and whipping my blood streaked hair about. The sweet smell of pine trees, which let me know that I was fairly close to the forest.

But the strongest smell, perhaps, was sweet, and cool, and made my mind lose track of everything. It made me think of ice cream on a blaring hot day, or brown sugar being heated for a sauce. This strange scent calmed my nerves and lulled my body into a deeper sleep, an oblivion that I was asking for just so I could pretend that this, whatever it was, wasn't happening to me.

I heard my name being carried by the breeze.

"Bella," it whispered, in a voice so beautiful, and so riddled with pain.

"Bella, no. Please, no."

**A/N: So, again this is a little cliff hanger, not as bad as before but it's still there. So please review, and the next chapter will probably be up by next Friday in honor of the release of the movie! **

**SO REVIEW PLEASE!**


	10. Oceans of Venus

**A/N: Okay, this chapter was very confusing in the original, and it's probably just as confusing now. It is important, though, or I would have changed it. **

**Anyway, if you don't understand what happened, leave a review saying that you want an explanation, and I'll send one to you. **

**Please enjoy, and please review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer. I only own this shiny, purple ring.**

**Chapter 10-Oceans of Venus**

I was flying, or at least that's what it felt like. The wonderful, warm summer breeze was blowing against my face and body as I walked toward the sound of crashing waves.

The sun was dancing in the sky as it shown down soft beams of light. The waves crashed gently against the beach. The sand looked so warm and soft. I walked forward and bent over to pull off my socks and shoes. To my surprise, I wasn't wearing any shoes. I looked to see what I was wearing; a long deep blue dress that seemed to be made of the lightest cloth on earth. It hung down to my mid-thigh and looked as if it'd been ripped apart. Each torn piece floated down to my knees and swished whenever I walked. The top was off the shoulder and had a couple layers of the thin fabric. The dress reminded me of a mermaid's outfit.

I had two thin blue satin ribbons tied around each of my wrists. They reminded me of hospital bracelets. The same type of ribbons were tied around my ankles.

"Bella?" Someone called from behind me. Startled, I turned around. Charlie was walking towards me with a sad look on his face.

"Gosh Bella, what happened to you?" he asked.

"Dad, dad, I'm okay, really," I said, trying to comfort him, but he just put his head in his hands. Charlie had never been very good with expressing his emotions. He was probably having trouble with that now.

I tried to walk over to him, but something was restraining me. One of the blue ribbons around my wrist was tied around a metal pole on the beach.

"Hey dad do you know where we are?" I asked, trying to keep the conversation light and easy.

"I'm so sorry I wanted to stay in La Push, Bella. I should've driven home with you. That would've been so much better than this," he said, and looked at me longingly.

Huh, so I was in La Push. This looked _nothing _like La Push. It looked like the middle of summer, but I could've sworn it was February. Hadn't Charlie said that the La Push beach was covered in rocks? This beach was all sand and shells. Well, I must've been mistaken.

"Chief Swan, would you like to know what happened to Bella?" a new voice asked.

I looked up. A tall man with blond hair was standing next to Charlie. He looked to be in his twenties, _maybe_ thirties. He's a doctor? He looks like a movie star, or a model.

"Y-yes," Charlie choked out. He was crying now and trying to hide it. That wasn't working so well.

"She was in a car accident on the highway. The ambulance was called, but had some trouble because of the rain and wind. By the time they got there, there were some people from La Push helping to clear up some of the wreckage. Bella was removed from the car and the paramedics were able to stop the worst bleeding by the time she came to the hospital. We stopped all of the external bleeding and found some internal bleeding, but that can be fixed. She broke her arm and a couple of ribs. All of that can be fixed too, but there is a major complication. When the paramedics were trying to remove Bella, the car became unstable and collapsed. She was hit in the head and combined with the force and pressure, well, her middle cerebral artery hemorrhaged causing a swelling of the parietal and temporal lobes of the brain. To sum it up, she's bleeding into her brain and is now in a coma. In some cases it can be fixed with surgery, but Bella is a very severe case. If you would like us to perform all of the surgery possible, the nurses will come in to prepare her. If not, we can keep her here until you're ready," the doctor explained.

Charlie had started sobbing in the middle of his speech, and came over to clutch my hand. I could feel him shaking and trying to stifle his sobs.

"Thank you Dr. Cullen," Charlie said around his cries.

"Please, call me Carlisle," the doctor asked kindly.

"Well, Carlisle, I'm going to have to think about it. But I'll tell you soon."

"Of course Chief Sw-"Carlisle was cut off.

"Charlie, please."

"Okay Charlie. I'll leave you to your thoughts," Carlisle said. He turned around, and quietly walked from the beach.

Oh, that was Carlisle, Edward's father. He perfectly matched the description that Jessica had given me.

"Charlie, I'm okay, really. Don't worry about me," I said, smiling at him. I patted his shoulder and hugged him.

"Oh Bella, oh Bella," Charlie said crying and holding both my hands. He lifted his head and looked at my face. His tear-glazed eyes watched me carefully.

I looked away and blinked. When I turned around I was in the kitchen of my house in Phoenix. Renée walked in and hugged me so hard I couldn't breath.

"Gosh mom, what's wrong?" I asked.

"Bella, Bella. Oh my god, Bella!" she whisper screamed.

"Okay mom calm down. Everything's okay with me, did something happen to you? Is everything okay?" I asked in my best soothing voice. I rubbed her back and tried to comfort her. I closed my eyes and leaned back, getting ready to go into full calming mode since Renée had fallen to the floor.

When I opened my eyes again I was standing in the middle of a forest, my feet bare and covered in cuts. My arms were curled tightly around my torso, and my mermaid's dress was ripped to shreds. The swishy bottom pieces were ripped up and tied around my arms and legs. The cloth around my stomach had a huge rip going most of the way around. My body was grey and sallow through the rip, with huge bruises randomly decorating my skin.

Something cracked over to my left so I started running as fast as I could. The forest and trees flew past me at an astonishing speed. I never tripped or made a sound. I skidded to a halt when I'd broken through the edge of the forest.

I stepped out onto the beach. The sky was dark and ominous; the rain clouds were flying in at a super fast speed. The sand was courser and the waves were harsh and rougher than the last time I'd been here. I stepped forward and the rain clouds opened up and released their storm. As the drops hit my neck, they burned and stung. The hot liquid dripped down my neck and arms and stung my wrists. The water turned red and slowly dripped down, staining my dress and hitting the sand and my ankles.

The burning sensation dulled, but then came back with a roar. I felt the burn in my arms slowly pulsating throughout my body.

I looked around trying to find someway to stop the burning. The ocean, rough and harsh, was the perfect way to cool down.

I ran for the ocean as fast as I possibly could. The water enveloped me and saturated my clothes. The rough waves pulled me under, tossing me violently and dragging me deeper and deeper until the blackness covered my eyes like a blanket. My lungs were begging for air and my head was spinning and foggy. I opened my mouth and the salty water poured in and tumbled down my dry throat.

I kept drifting farther down, and the farther down I got, the hotter the water became. I hit the dark sandy bottom and the water swirled around me, filling my mouth and nose. Quiet voices started talking to me, mumbling and whispering. I tried to ignore them but they got louder and louder.

I shut my eyes and grabbed my ears trying to block out the voices that were screaming at me.

"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" I screamed scratching at my ears, whishing for them to fall off. "STOP TALKING TO ME!" I yelled, kicking and thrashing. Something large and cold grabbed my arms and covered my mouth. I forced my eyes open and saw nothing except for the moon-bright and shining above. The water lowered around me and was sucked into the sand.

I quieted and the heavy coldness was replaced by the heat and flames. I moved my arm up to my eyes and heard a breaking snap while the pain shot through me. I turned my head to the side and a cracking sound came from my neck sending pain through my back. I pulled my legs up to my chest and sat up, resting my head on my knees. The snapping and cracking came from my whole body and I convulsed violently, causing more cracking and pain.

The voices were still talking, but I could drown them out with my humming. I couldn't find any more random sounds to distract myself so I started humming the last song I'd heard on the radio. It was some crappy pop song. The notes didn't distract me from the new wave of pain flowing through me. I screamed, but the breath flew from my lungs and knifes started pricking every surface of my skin.

The dark ground around me turned a deep red and started hissing and spitting. The heat started blowing over me, which made the pins and knifes pulsate in pain.

I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the heat. I rolled over and rubbed my face in the cold dirt. I dug my nails into the ground, trying to dig myself away from the terrible burning. The dirt fell on my back and cooled my skin until it got so hot it felt like flames.

Something rolled me over and let me see the land around me. Everything was glowing red and orange from the flames that had now consumed everything in sight. Slowly the fire crept towards me, causing me to scream in terror.

I closed my eyes and covered them with my hands humming as loud as I could as the voices started screaming again.

The flames crept closer and started licking at my feet. I pulled them up to my chest and screamed into my arms. The rage and anger and terror and pain swept me up and caused me to start cringing away from the heat.

I sobbed, trying to release all my terror, but no tears came. I cried harder and rolled over not realizing that I'd fallen into the flames.

I relaxed, finally giving in to the pain, and waited for the storm to end.

**A/N: Remember, if you don't get it, tell me in a review and I'll send you my explanation.**


	11. Cut Thistles in May

**A/N: Okay, so this story was imagined and written before Breaking Dawn came out. So, there is stuff in here that doesn't match up with information from BD. Anyway, I tried to change the beginning of the story to match up with this. The next chapter will be up next Friday or Saturday. **

**So enjoy and review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer. I only own this shiny purple ring.**

**Chapter 11-Cut Thistles in May**

**BPOV**

The fire, the fire, the FIRE! I felt my skin ripple and pucker, melting under the force of the heat. By this time, my hair had burned off in smoking clumps, my eyes had pinched and itched from the sharp smog, and my mouth was melted shut, holding in my shrieks of pain and cries of terror.

Days ago, or at least that's what it felt like, I'd decided that I wouldn't give into the pain and flames. I shook and convulsed in silent agony, and lay still whenever my bones started cracking and popping.

Within the last, well…I couldn't tell, the fire had burned maniacally in my chest and started a warpath through all of my limbs.

Part of my brain shut down, disconnecting from the pain. The parts that were forced to remain sane started repeating whatever simple words I could think of. Songs, poems, limericks, rhymes.

Cold and raw the north winds doth blow

Bleak in the morning early,

All the hills are covered with snow,

And the winters now come fairly.

Yeah, what a joke that was. If only the winter winds would blow.

I rolled over on the burning ground and groaned as my stomach flared sickeningly with the force of the flames.

Cold and raw, cold and raw, cold and raw, my brain chanted, trying to force the fires away. Blow snow, blow snow, blow snow…

I twisted my foot and the sickening crack and crunch echoed loudly through my shrinking brain.

I could feel parts of myself slipping away, the essential parts that made up…well, me. Wait, my name, what was my name? It started with a B, right? And…and…there were some L's too. Yes, there were, maybe?

I could feel my body tense and shake as the anxiety and stress blazed strong with the fire.

My name, my name, my name…

Cold and raw, cold and raw, cold and raw…

OoooooOoooooO

**APOV**

"Bella, Bella, are you okay?" I asked her, leaning in close to whisper in her ear. In response, she curled tighter into herself and let out a low whimper. I groaned inwardly.

"Carlisle, it's been four days now and she's still acting like this. Is she okay? Did something go wrong?" I asked nervously.

I was standing next to Bella, watching her white body shake and shiver. She'd been in the hospital with serious brain damage and extensive wounds. We all knew that she would have to be changed if she was going to live again.

Carlisle had bitten her four days ago, but she hadn't woken up, or even made a sound beside the occasional whimper. Had we messed up? Was her body so damaged that not even this could help her? What had happened?

I could feel myself becoming more hysterical by the second.

I looked down at Bella, poor, poor Bella.

Carlisle had been standing by Bella's head, a grim expression covering his face as he watched for any sign of movement.

Edward was sitting at the foot of the bed watching Carlisle, probably reading his thoughts.

The dread and confusion was palpable in the air. I sucked in more tension with every one of my unneeded breaths. I was about to walk out of the room, but a shrill scream brought me back.

Bella had screamed? That meant that Bella was awake! I was overjoyed, she was finally up!

I looked over to the bed where Bella should've been, but Carlisle and Edward were sitting on it and staring at the hunched form in the corner. Bella's back was pressed against the two walls, her head pushed against her knees causing her hair to fly out around her in a terrible mess. Her slim arms were wrapped around her knees, and her hands were covering her ears. I could hear a faint murmur of, "That is too soon, that is too soon, that is too soon."

What was too soon?

"Bella?" I called out, slowly approaching her. Her whole body tensed up and she started inching down the wall. I watched in pity as she looked up with an expression of terror and fear written clearly across her face.

Out of the corner of my eyes I could see Edward approaching her. He moved slowly and carefully, trying not to surprise her. I watched her form closely, and saw her shoulders slowly rise and fall with her labored breathing. Edward moved even closer and suddenly her breathing stopped and her hands zoomed up to clutch her ears.

Again I heard her whisper, "That is too soon, that is too soon, that is too soon."

What did that mean?

Edward crouched right in front of her and she started yelling, "That is too soon! That is too soon! That is too soon!"

Edward's normally hard face softened in sadness and he stretched his hand out and place his fingers below her chin. Her body tensed up and her hands clenched into fists. Edward ignored her reaction and pulled her face up to meet his.

As her face rose, her eyes widened in confusion. I could see the different emotions play across her bright red eyes.

Suddenly, she stood up and moved to the center of the room, walking in circles and murmuring to herself. "Then they will die, then they will die, then they will die."

_Edward, what's wrong? What's happening to her? Is she okay? She was out for four days. That's not normal!_

I was screaming in my head, trying to talk to Edward without alerting Bella.

Bella's murmuring suddenly changed. "Four days, not three. Four days, not three. Four days, not three."

I gasped in surprise. Did I say that out loud?

"Bella? Did you _hear_ that?" Edward asked, astonished.

A loud clunk reverberated throughout the room as Bella dropped to the floor, hands tearing frantically at her ears.

Somebody needed to do something.

_Edward! I need to do something, she needs help. This needs to stop, she keeps saying 'then they will die'. We need to know what's wrong._

Bella started sobbing and shaking against the floor. I needed to help her. This was my friend, someone who needed my help desperately.

I quietly walked over to Bella, sobbing on the floor, and wrapped my arms around her, trying to comfort her anxiety.

"Who's going to die, Bella? What's wrong?" I asked sweetly.

As soon as the words poured out of my mouth, Bella went stiff.

"LET GO!" she screeched. "GET OUT! LEAVE ME ALONE! THIS ISN'T SAFE, YOU NEED TO LEAVE!"

My arms were jerked away from her body, almost like a wall was pushing against me. I stood up, but was still being pushed by the sudden force. I started to back away but the wall was faster. I looked behind me and saw that Carlisle and Edward were both being pushed by this invisible wall.

Edward was trying to push back but just fell to the floor and was sliding. All three of us tried with all our strength to push against the barrier, but we were forced to the door.

My foot caught around the doorframe and I flew to the ground. Edward tripped over my flailing legs and landed partially on top of me. Carlisle tripped over Edward's outstretched arm, but quickly caught his balance and stood beside our crumpled forms.

I was able to take one last fleeting glance inside the door before it was slammed shut, shaking from the force of the push.

I could distinctly hear Bella nervously pacing the room.

Carlisle stood, looked at Edward meaningly, and walked off to his office.

I sighed, gently untwisting my legs from Edward's.

"Alice, we need to keep watch over her," Edward commanded me. "I have somewhere to be at this moment, so can you please keep watch?"

"Sure Edward, no problem," I told him, easily seeing the pain and frustration in his eyes.

My shoulders slumped and I dragged my tired body against the wall, leaning against it for support. I closed my eyes and concentrated on Bella. I could hear the slight bend in the wood as Bella's pace increased towards the door. The familiar creak of the hinges startled me and I opened my eyes.

Bella was standing in the doorway, her whole frame shivering, her hands cupped in front of her chest, cradling something tiny. She glanced up at me, her red eyes darting nervously, and she threw the object at my feet. I could clearly hear the metallic clink of the object against the wood floors. My eyes were drawn down to the small flash of silver glinting in the low lighting. I saw the clear platinum band and the glowing amethyst stone and knew instantaneously what this was: the ring I'd given to Bella five years ago.

I glanced back at the door, but only saw the blur as the wood slammed in the frame.

I slowly bent down and cradled the precious ring in my palms. I'd found this ring soon after I was changed. This was one of the most precious things I'd found. Except, of course, for Jasper.

This ring brought back so many memories: Meeting Jasper in that southern diner, seeing the Cullens and becoming one of them, and, of course, seeing Bella's wonderful, sweet, innocent face in the forest. Just remembering her yelling at that cat brought a gentle giggle to my lips.

But then remembering how quickly she analyzed the situation, realizing that we weren't human, and listening carefully to everything we'd said.

Then remembering how pained she'd looked when I started ignoring her after I'd moved back, how her delicate face seemed to break with her disappointment.

I clutched the ring hard in my hands, being careful not to crush it, and felt the familiar pull behind my eyes. I breathed in deeply and my shoulders started shaking. I bowed my head and sobbed into my hands, but a cool black haze surrounded me, bringing me into a vision.

I looked around and saw a huge, light, airy space that must be a room in one of Esme's houses. I saw myself sitting in a huge armchair that seemed to swallow me whole. My feet were tucked up under my body and I had one arm dangling over the side of the chair, while the other was stretched out to reach Jasper.

Jasper was sitting very peacefully at the foot of the armchair. His honey blond hair dripped down his face and covered one of his blazing yellow eyes. He had one arm on the chair, his hand clasped with mine in an affectionate gesture. Our eyes would occasionally drift to each other's faces, and we would drink in the sight with a smile or knowing look.

A quick flick of long blond hair brought my attention over to the small couch on this Alice's left.

Rosalie was perched on the edge of her seat leaning against Emmett, who was shaking with laughter.

Her hands were placed gently in her lap, and her legs were crossed, feet on the floor. It seemed as though all her weight was against Emmett, and she would sway to the side waiting for his arms to encircle her waist and pull her back. They would both smile to each other and sigh lightly.

Emmett's brown hair fell into his eyes and he shook his head around to toss the hair away. I could see his grin widen as he laughed at something oblivious to my ears. His lips pulled up and his eyes crinkled in a smile that belonged on his warm round face.

I looked around to see if there was any more to this vision.

Edward was sitting on the piano bench, his arms wrapped around Bella's waist. Bella was absolutely radiant, pretty in a subtle way. Her hair was wavy and curled at the tips, and her eyes glowed a brilliant gold. Their skin was white as snow and glowed in the faint light coming through the windows behind them. She was leaning against him, her head rested against his chest, his chin on the top of her head. They were both shaking with laughter, and smiling lovingly into each other's faces. Just the sight of my brother and Bella together, happy, and knowing that Bella would be ok brought the feeling of pure joy back to me.

The black slowly faded away, taking the happy scene away with it.

"Jasper!" I called out. He had to know about what was happening. This vision was going to come true. I just knew it!

Even though the hope filled me up, the back of my head was still repeating Bella's empty emotionless words over and over again.

"Then they will die. Then they will die. Then they will die."

**A/N: Ok, so Bella's powers are a little different here, but that was my original idea for this story even if it's not true. **

**Next chap will be up next Friday or Saturday. **

**Please review, and keep reading!**


	12. This Hungry Life

**A/N: Happy Thanksgiving everybody! Anyway, this is a pretty longish chapter. I hope you enjoy it-I know I did.**

**So please review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer. I only own this shiny purple ring.**

**Chapter 12-This Hungry Life**

**BPOV**

"Bella?...Bella?...Bella?"

The monotonous voice continued to call that name, over and over again. I'd been sitting in this room for what felt like an eternity. I didn't know what the date was-I didn't know the time. Also, it seemed that every couple of hours a new person would come and start calling that name over and over.

With certain people, I would feel different things pull in the back of my mind, like a memory was coming back.

Every time one of the females would come, I would only think of purple. Purple stones, purple clothes, purple hair, purple everything. Sometimes when she was standing outside, I would be pulled into blackness and then a scene would play out around me. Whenever this happened, I would curl up, trying to think of new ways of escape.

When one of the male voices started chanting, I would start hearing voices in my mind. Almost all of them would just be talking about normal everyday activities, but the strongest voice seemed to be talking_ to_ _me. _He tried asking me questions, but I would block him out. This is when I would start pacing around, trying to think of other things besides the voice.

There was another male voice that would talk very calmly. He sounded like he was talking about his memories or reading aloud from books. He would never directly ask me anything, but I could tell that he was talking to me. I enjoyed whenever this guy would stand outside my door-I enjoyed listening to his descriptions of places and people. This man seemed to calm me down, and for a couple hours, I could sit and listen and not worry about the others in this strange, foreign house.

Most of the time, though, I would search the room. There was another door in this room that lead to a bathroom. There was a huge marble bathtub with golden feet and knobs. Two of the walls were completely covered in mirrors from top to bottom. Along one of the mirrored walls was a large white counter top with two large basin like sinks. The edges of the counter were inlayed with a gold foil in the shape of leaves.

One huge chandelier adorned the ceiling. It was covered in golden glass that cast the light in rainbows along the walls.

I peered into the full-length mirror, afraid of what I would see. Slowly, I edged in front of it and slightly opened one of my eyes. Standing in front of me was an exceptionally pale girl. She had long slender legs that were barely covered in a pair of black cargo shorts. Her feet were tiny and had a light red polish on the nails. The girl was thin, enough to show off her defined curves, but not tiny. I could clearly see her hips under a tight purple tank top that barely covered her stomach. I looked up and saw two black eyes slightly rimmed in red stare back at me. The bright eyes made her already pale face even paler, if that was possible. She was whiter than white, almost translucent, while her full lips were a deep red that matched her eyes. Long chocolate hair flowed around her face in gentle waves and rested down by her hips. The hair was soft and smooth, glowing in the low lights.

With a shaking hand, I slowly reached out and placed one hand on the cold glass. I drew my finger across the image of the girl's face, gently outlining her face and lips.

Was this girl really me? I couldn't look like this, could I? She reminded me of someone. Someone I'd seen when the black haired girl was standing outside my door.

The only difference was that that girl had lovely golden eyes, while this girl had the brightest red eyes I'd ever seen.

If this truly was me, then what was I like? What was my name? What was I doing here?

OoooooOoooooO

I felt something new inside of me; there was this terrible itching, no, longing, in my throat. A dull ache had started a little while ago. It turned into a small radiating pain, then a deep pulsing need. A small part of my brain had said that I needed food, something to sustain me, but I couldn't find it anywhere.

I had searched the entire room for something to eat, but there was nothing!

The pull became stronger and stronger until I was crazy with the hunger. I couldn't concentrate on anything; all I could do was pace. Pace, and listen to the voices that had been becoming stronger.

_Edward, I saw what Bella will do if she doesn't get something to stop the thirst. You don't want to know…_

_Edward, when I was up there all I could feel was thirst, pure terrible thirst, but I don't think that she knows what it is. We need to get to her, I have a plan…_

A plan, for what? What was it talking about?

I sat down on the huge bed in the room and growled whenever I heard something. I was trying to understand what the voices were saying.

But I quickly forgot my thoughts as the pure longing tugged at my throat begging me to give in.

OoooooOoooooO

I was lying in the middle of a huge expanse of mattress, trying to lose myself in the peaceful oblivion of sleep. I wasn't making any progress, no matter what I did or how long I laid here, I couldn't drift off.

Frustrated, I shut my eyes and started taking in deep forced breaths. A comforting earthy smell was drawn in, a delicious smell that comforted me and calmed my frustrated mind.

This smell made me think of a room, small and dark. The room was only occupied by a bed, desk, closet, and rocking chair. The desk had a small collection of books piled on top of it. There was one book on the table next to the bed, and one book, ratty and dog eared, open on the bed.

I looked closer at the book on the bed. It was a faded blue with large black lettering along the top reading _Wuthering Heights_.

I rolled the title around my mouth and another picture flashed in my mind. I was sitting in a large squishy armchair in a huge room. All I could see was rows and rows of bookshelves. Sitting in my lap was a brand new copy of this _Wuthering Heights_.

Suddenly I was standing; I have to figure out where this scent was coming from.

I searched in room, carefully smelling everything for that scent. It was strongest by the door, but I was afraid to open it.

I stood by the door, deliberating, but decided that I had to know this smell.

I slowly pulled it open and the slow creak of the door brought bubbles of anxiety into my stomach. What if all those people were on the other side?

As soon as the door was completely opened, the scent hit me full in the face. I looked around for the source and saw a large ceramic mug on the floor filled with a gooey red substance.

The mug felt cool and light in my hands. I looked at it closer and swished the stuff around; it was a symphony of reds that swirled and collided in perfect harmony. The scent was absolutely amazing, I felt light and happy and perfectly safe.

I heard the floorboards creak so I twirled around, covering the mug so nothing spilled, and turned to see who was there.

A tall man was sitting on the floor across from me. He had long honey colored hair that dripped down into his face and covered one golden colored eye. His legs were crossed Indian style, and he had a thick leather bound book open in his lap.

"Go on, drink it," he said, and I watched him warily. He didn't look threatening and made no move towards me. I examined his eyes again and only saw hope and happiness dancing beneath the surface.

I wonder what he's reading? I took a step back, leaving the door open and gestured for him to join me.

He looked startled but quickly walked in, gently shutting the creaking door behind him.

I moved quickly to the huge bed, planting myself in the center and holding the cup in my palms, cherishing the smell.

"Aren't you going to drink it?" the man asked. He was still standing by the door, looking a trifle worried, but mostly calm.

I glared at him, motioning him to come closer, and turned back to my mug.

I could feel the vibrations through the bed as he slowly moved closer until he was sitting across from me.

"Bella," I was annoyed with that name, why did they keep saying it? "Just drink it. I can tell that you're desperately thirsty, just drink it. Stop torturing yourself," he pleaded with me.

I looked at him confused, I didn't know I was torturing myself. But, if he felt so strongly about it, why not?

So I brought the cup up to my lips, pouring a tiny amount of the liquid into my mouth. It was a sweet honey like substance that trickled down my throat and calmed my whole body. It was the most amazing thing in the world. I poured more of the stuff into my mouth and savored the feeling as the honey caressed my throat and mouth. My whole body seemed to warm to the fact that this wonderful delicious liquid had entered me.

I gulped down all of the drink, savoring every drop that hit my tongue. I swiped my finger along the inside of the mug, searching for any remnants of the honey. I licked my finger clean and looked sadly at the empty, spotless mug.

The man chuckled at my expression and reached out for the mug. I reluctantly handed it to him and asked, "What's your name?"

I was surprised; my voice was thick and musical, high pitched and sweet. I couldn't believe that that musical voice belonged to me!

The man pushed the blond hair behind his ear and answered me calmly. "Hello Bella, my name's Jasper." His soft smile made me feel safe and calm.

"Is that my name then? Bella?" my soft musical voice asked.

"Yes, your name is Bella Swan. Do you know where you are?"

I thought about it. I had no idea where I was or who Jasper was. But that name, Bella Swan, it felt so familiar but strange. I thought about it and closed my eyes, a picture of remembrance coming to me.

Everything was covered in a black veil, creating a blurred picture that I was barely able to see through. I tried to focus and I saw a man, he looked young but aged, maybe his late thirties or early forties. He stood outside of a small house in the middle of a forest. As soon as he saw me, his lips pulled up into a warm smile that transformed his whole face. I ran up to him and wrapped my arms around the man, saying, "I love you dad." He replied with a simple, "You to Bella."

I opened my eyes and saw Jasper watching me with concern. I felt a sharp stinging in my eyes and a lump seemed to form in my throat.

I closed my eyes again, wanting to remember more of my father. I saw another blurred memory. My father was holding my hand and walked with me through a crowded airport. I was looking frantically through the crowd, searching for someone.

I saw a tall woman with short brown hair, she was searching the crowd too. I ran up to her shouting, "Mom! Mom! Mom! I missed you so much," and hugging her fiercely.

I looked at her and my dad and watched as they awkwardly smiled at each other. "Charlie," my mom said, greeting him. "Renée," he said in response.

So, this meant that my parent's names were Renée and Charlie, but by the way that they greeted each other, it seemed as thought they weren't married.

I opened my eyes again and watched Jasper read his book.

"Did you know my parents?" I asked quietly.

He looked up at me sadly. "No, I've never met them."

"Oh, but do you know what their names are?" I asked more desperately. I needed to know if these flashes were truly my memories.

"I believe that their names are Charlie and Renée. Although I'm not that sure."

I smiled in relief-my flashes _are_ true.

He looked at me curiously now. "Why do you ask?"

I frowned. Should I tell him about my memory flashes? What will he think?

"Well, whenever I see, or smell, or hear something familiar I see a flash of people and action, like a memory coming back. When you said my name I saw a memory of my parents, but I didn't now if it was real or just my imagination." It was strange how comfortable I felt confiding in him.

Jasper was looking at me with an understanding look. I wanted all of my memories to come back. There was a need deep inside of me yearning for more-needing to know more. It was upsetting not to remember. I wanted to sulk. I rested my head in my hands and closed my eyes.

I was trying to sulk but a feeling of great happiness swelled through me bringing a cocky smile to my face.

I sat up in surprise and saw Jasper watching with an amused smile. Did he do that?

I decided to try it back on him. I brought all of the lethargy and drowsiness into my body letting it swirl inside of me. I then willed it onto Jasper, trying to send the exhaustion his way. I looked at him and saw his eyelids droop and his erect body sway slightly. I laughed in pure amusement and released all the fatigue from my system, which, in turn, removed it from Jasper's system as well.

He sat up stick straight again and had a peculiar look on his face. "That was interesting. I've never had my power used against me before..." he murmured.

"So that was me?" I asked excited. I didn't know that people could control emotions.

"Yes, that was you," he replied, still sounding distant.

I was filled with glee. This power was so cool! I wonder what else I can do.

I was looking out into the middle of the room when Jasper gently tapped my shoulder. Startled, I turned back to him. He had his hand held out, his palm up, holding something small. I looked closer and saw a small silver band with one sparkling purple stone. I picked it up and examined the ring in my fingers. On the inside of the band, a small inscription read "Music's Silver Sound" in a wonderful curly script. I rolled the phrase through my mind, and another veiled memory came back to me. I was standing in the forest looking up at Jasper and the small black haired girl. They were both smiling at me, and I said, "Oh, ok Jasper, Alice, nice to meet you." I turned away from them and slipped the ring on my finger.

"Jasper!" I yelled excitedly, coming back to the present.

"What?" he asked, a little frightened and somewhat surprised.

"No, no. I saw you in a memory. In the forest, I was with you and, and, Alice! Yes that's her name, ALICE!"

I was nearly shouting in my happiness. That was, until another memory hit me.

I was standing in what looked like a high school. Alice was standing in front of me, her face blank and her eyes cold.

"Alice I have something I wanted to a-"I started but she cut me off.

"Sorry Bella. I really have to go." She slammed the locker door and looked up at my face. Her eyes seemed to darken a couple shades, and she walked off and disappeared behind a mob of students.

I quickly remembered another memory where I was standing in a large open room, like a gym, and tons of kids were wheeling around on rollerblades. I could feel that my balance was of kilter so I fell. A laughing Alice came and helped me to my feet.

I was in another memory where I was again skating and, of course, I fell. This time no Alice came to help me, but I could clearly see her skating in the other direction.

I came back to my room with Jasper staring at me. I was on the floor, my legs tucked underneath me and my hands clasped, almost praying.

I could feel the stinging behind my eyes and the lump forming in my throat. I wished that I could cry-it always felt better when I could cry.

I stood up and threw the ring at Jasper, hitting him in the chest.

"Tell Alice, that she can have her stupid ring back," I cried out.

Jasper winced, pretty much cringed away from me. He could probably feel the sting of the betrayal that came from Alice's abandonment.

"Why?" Jasper asked, clearly mystified.

"Because she was supposed to be my friend, someone who talked to me. Not someone who ignored me completely for no reason and wouldn't even explain why!" My voice was loud and raw by the time I'd finished.

"Oh Bella, Alice wasn't abandoning you," Jasper said, shaking his head and smiling widely. .

"Well that's what it felt like," I snapped back at him before he could finish. I crossed my arms and looked away.

"She was trying to protect you from something that she knew would happen if she continued to fraternize with you."

I glared at him; this was not what I wanted to hear.

"Get out," I said in a low, threatening voice. I forced all of the fears that I'd repressed on him, hoping that then, he could finally feel what I was feeling.

He fell off of the bed and clutched his head.

I put up all of my walls, needing to go over everything that he had said. I pictured Jasper leaving and I could hear that he was being forced away.

I turned around and saw that he was standing in the doorframe, pushing against an invisible wall.

"Bella!" he called out, trying to reason with me, but I shut the door on him yelling, "Come back tomorrow! I'll talk to you then!"

And I would talk to him then, because I was slowly receiving my memories. But what scared me the most wasn't what I was seeing-it was what I was becoming.


	13. Nothing But a Ghost

**A/N: Yeah, another long chapter! Anyway, thanks to all you awesome reviewers! I would love to get 95 reviews, but I'm not begging. **

**So this chapter is one of my longer ones. Anyway, please enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer. I only own this shiny purple ring.**

**Chapter 13-Nothing But a Ghost**

I looked out the door, my foot wavering over the hall floor, trying to decide if I would leave my room, or stay in it's warm protective grasp. I sighed, remembering what Jasper had told me.

"Bella, you don't have to worry, nobody is going to hurt you. Plus, if anything does happen, you're a vampire now, you have all that strength."

That was true, I was extremely strong. Just this morning I'd shattered a ceramic mug when I grabbed it too quickly. Jasper had handed me a mug of blood, just thinking the word made me shudder, and I grabbed it, calmly, but with too much force. The mug broke into tiny pieces, and the blood spread everywhere and covered my clothes.

Right now I was wearing black cargo shorts that had hardened where the blood dried. My deep purple tank top had become more of a maroon color on the stomach with some black splotches.

Even when Jasper offered me some new clothes, I refused. This is what I'd been wearing when I woke up. These clothes were familiar. Plus, they smelled good-really good.

I looked out into the hall again, taking in everything I could see.

The entire hallway was painted in warm beiges and whites that gave the area a warm comforting effect. The floor was a light glossy stained wood that matched the golden accents on the walls. When I glanced down I could see the light, coming through the huge window, reflect off the glaze.

In front of me was a staircase that came up and opened to my left. On my right was the staircase that lead up to the next floor. There were two other doors on this floor, each one was closed tight and was a lightwood that, of course, matched everything perfectly. The handles were some sort of golden crystal that cast bright rainbows on the doors.

I heard the gentle creak of floorboards and waited for the person to appear at the top of the steps. Jasper's calm face came into view and I let out the breath that I'd, unknowingly, been holding in.

He saw me and his face fell. "Come on Bella, just take the first step," he said, shaking his head.

I looked at him, my eyes widening and my face pleading. I wanted to do this, but I didn't think that I could.

Jasper glared at me, his normally calm façade contorting into a strange look of annoyance and confusion. I quickly tuned into his power, trying to figure out what he was feeling. At first it was confusion, but when I dug deeper through the waves coming off of him, I felt curiosity and suspicion.

I was about to close my door, but something was clutched around my lifted ankle in a death grip. Jasper had moved blindingly fast, and was grabbing my ankle, pulling my foot down. He and I both knew that if my foot touched that floor, I would be able to walk out of this room.

I was easily able to resist his pulling. I was so much stronger than he was. I was watching him carefully when he glanced up and smirked. That's when he called out Emmett's name, and I knew I was in for it.

Jasper had told me all about his family. He explained in great detail how strong Emmett was, and how his super strength equally matched my newborn strength.

I saw a brown curly head pop out of a door in the hallway, it was Emmett.

"Jasper, what's up?" he asked smirking, obviously knowing what was going on.

"Curse that vampire hearing," I mumbled under my breath. His smirk just grew as he stepped out of the doorway. I watched his brown curls bounce as he jauntily walked toward the Bella-Jasper spectacle.

Quickly, I lifted my leg, trying to shake Jasper off, but it seemed that they both knew what I was planning to do.

Jasper had wrapped his arms tighter around my leg and Emmett lunged at me. I was hit on my shoulder and was sent flying sideways into the doorframe. I heard the wood crack and bend unhealthily as I slid down and fell into the hallway.

I felt two stone cold arms grab me around the waist and pull me upright. Now, I was standing in the hallway across from my room and watched as Jasper made a show of slowly closing my door, cutting me off from my personal sanctuary. Even though Jasper tried to get the door closed, it wouldn't fit all the way since I'd made a Bella sized dent in the frame. I struggled against Emmett, trying to get to Jasper, but he just held me tighter and started carrying me down the stairs.

"I can walk just fine on my own thank you very much," I growled at Emmett. He just laughed at my expression and continued to carry me against my will.

We walked out into a wonderfully open room. One wall was huge and completely made of glass, letting me see out into a surprisingly clear sunset. I watched in admiration as the low sun sparkled on the horizon, making the magnificent trees turn black in the shadow. Even though it was dusk, I could clearly see as each blade of grass silently move in the wind. I saw the slight shadow of a bird high up in the sky, and I could hear an animal crawling up the huge oak that I assumed was next to the house.

I looked around and saw a beautiful painting filling the space on one of the walls. One of the other walls had an assortment of small frames, and when I moved closer I saw photographs.

The largest of the frames was a wonderful family photo. I looked at each person and tried to match him or her with the mental picture I'd formed in my mind.

Jasper had been coming to talk to me for the last couple days. I'd heard all about the family members, while he carefully avoided the one subject I'd most wanted to talk about; my past. I was glad when he didn't mention it at all.

In the photo, a tall blond man was standing at the back of the picture with his arm around the shoulder of a sweet looking woman with caramel hair that curled and flowed to her shoulders. These two must be Carlisle and Esme, the oldest-the parents of the family.

Emmett was sitting on the ground in front of Carlisle. His legs were out in front of him, his bare toes curled in. His face was turned up in a bright grin that made his face glow and his eyes shine. One of his hands was resting in his lap while the other was stretched out holding the long slender hand of an alluring blond woman. She was sitting on a small pillow with her legs tucked to her side and her back stiff and straight. Her long flowing long blond hair was draped around her shoulders and framed her flawless face. This must be Rosalie; she was exactly how Jasper described her.

To the left of Carlisle and Esme was Jasper an Alice. Jasper was standing behind Alice with his hands on her shoulders. Alice had her hands on top of Jasper's and she was leaning into his chest. They looked calm and peaceful and, well, perfectly matched for each other.

Edward was standing on the other side of the picture. He was leaning against a tree, his arms crossed across his chest. He wasn't smiling, but he wasn't frowning. When I looked in his eyes, I didn't see much happiness-just boredom.

The picture was so beautiful, but something bugged me. Something in the back of my mind showed me a different picture of Edward, an Edward who looked happier and more in tune with everyone.

I closed my eyes and saw the picture, but with one difference; I was standing there, a part of the family. But this would never happen. I looked back at the family picture, but wrenched my gaze away from it when my dormant heart threatened to break open.

There were other beautifully captured scenes adorning the walls. One picture showed Esme in sweat pants and a tee shirt painting the walls. Her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, and her "painting clothes" were perfectly spotless.

Another picture was of Jasper and Emmett. They were sitting on the floor, both of them holding video game controllers. It was obvious to tell that they were caught up in the game by the way they were staring just to the right, not straight out.

My favorite picture, though, showed Edward, obviously oblivious to the photographer. He was sitting at a large grand piano, his eyes were closed and his face was the epitome of perfect serenity. His lips were upturned in a slight smile, like he was thinking carefully about something. I stretched out my hand and carefully traced the outline of his lips, closing my eyes and imagining the picture in my mind.

I felt a slight breeze on my arms and opened my eyes.

"Hello Bella. It's wonderful to see you again," a soft motherly voice said.

Esme was standing beside me, a warm smile on her face. When I continued to stare, her smile faltered and she looked at the picture I was still touching. I slowly pulled my hand down, utterly embarrassed, and turned my gaze away from her.

"Would you like to see the house?" Esme asked trying to fill the awkward silence. I nodded and she took my hand. I started walking behind her through the palatial mansion.

OoooooOoooooO

I had been sitting on the couch for about a day now. As soon as I'd marked this spot as my territory, I sat here comfortably and watched as everyone moved around me-having something to do or someone to talk to. At one point, Jasper had been in here, lounging in one of the chairs reading an exceptionally large book. He only acknowledged my presence by sending me a wave of happiness when he entered.

Emmett had come in at one point, as well, but his activity was much louder than Jasper's. He was playing some video game. I could hear horses and dramatic orchestral music, but tuned it out.

I'd also seen Alice. She'd walked in with a laptop and sat in the chair next to me. I didn't talk to her, but she enjoyed talking at me. I heard about her online shopping. She'd seen a bag in a magazine and was trying to find a store that sold it. I now knew exactly how much leather was used for the bag and exactly what type of seams and buttons were used, as well. To sum it up, I knew more about a handbag than I'd ever intended on knowing.

Alice had also said something about my blood stained clothes, but I'd just shrugged; I was comfortable in what I was wearing.

Each member of the Cullen family had been with me in the room at some point or another, and they all had different ways of acting around me. But the one person that I'd wanted to see didn't come in until late the next day.

Edward walked in, looking around nervously, but when I checked his emotions, he was exuding confidence. I kept my eyes carefully trained on him, watching for any sudden movements, but he just came and sat beside me on the couch.

I was anxious at first, but settled back into my comfort when Edward didn't say anything.

I remembered Jasper telling me something about Edward's mind reading ability, and I wanted to see if I could absorb it as well.

I didn't know how my power specifically worked, so I just tried projecting my mind out to Edward. Something I did worked, because I started hearing quiet voices in my mind. I sifted through them, trying to find the one that felt like him.

Suddenly, almost as if I'd conjured it, a soft velvety voice rang throughout my head. I could see what he was seeing, like a movie screen in my mind. His eyes were focused on a large piano on the other side of the room. His thoughts seemed to be focused on that as well.

_I could play, but I don't want to disturb her. She looks so peaceful sitting on the couch; it might distract her from what she's doing…_

He played? I'd love to hear him play!

I cleared my throat and spoke for the first time in a couple of days.

"Edward," he turned towards me, "Play something," I said, nodding towards the piano. He looked shocked, but stood up and walked over.

"Well, are you coming?" he asked over his shoulder. I quickly got out of my nest and followed him to the shiny black instrument. He sat down smoothly and gracefully while I pulled the ottoman over and collapsed onto it. He smirked slightly and poised his fingers over the keys, waiting to start his music.

_I know exactly what to play… _His musical voice said, ringing through my mind.

As I looked out the window, a soft melody started weaving through the air. It had a silvery sound, very complex, but the complexity was so subtle that you only registered it if you listened closely. I closed my eyes and saw a river, deep and calm. I walked along the banks through a dazzling green forest and listened as the music played in harmony to the gentle trickle of water.

I calmly followed the river, turning when the music sped up and slowed down. At one point the music became larger and stronger with deep background notes and a calm scattering of a high melody. I pictured the river opening up into a large majestic ocean, waves beating lightly against the shore and lapping up against my toes.

The music stopped, ending with a series of ringing notes and an intricately woven pattern of all the melodies played throughout the piece. The ocean slowly disappeared around me, but the ending notes continued to play in my mind.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Edward watching me with an expression that I couldn't quite place. Adoration? Concern? I couldn't quite tell.

"Well, what did you think?" his soft musical voice asked.

I opened my mouth, trying to come up with the right words to describe what I thought, but extraordinary didn't feel strong enough.

I decided the only way I could truly explain to him what I thought would be to let him feel what I had felt. I gathered all of the emotions I was feeling and pushed them out into the air, willing them towards Edward.

He was watching me with a careful look that became one of shock when my emotions touched him. Everything played through his eyes, letting me know how much of my emotions he'd received.

"That was…" he trailed off in awe but picked up where he'd left off. "I don't know how to describe it." He seemed truly frustrated by this fact.

I watched his face, absolutely angelic and beautiful in the dim light. His eyes, a bright golden topaz, glowed and sparkled at me, causing my idle heart to pound. I was captured by the look on his face, and when I looked into his mind, he was thinking the same things about me. But how could he compare my plain old self to his beauty? How could he look and see his own clear golden eyes and not think them better than my murky red ones?

This didn't make sense to me, but I was so caught up in the moment that all my thoughts were lost.

I wanted to reach out and grab his hand, intertwine my fingers around his, and stare into his eyes forever. That would be pure bliss.

I leaned in, trying to bring myself closer to him, and he brought his head down to my level. I saw his lips move as he spoke, but I couldn't hear a single thing that he said. All I could do was inhale his amazing scent and lean in closer.

A tingling shiver worked its way down my spine as Edward took my hand and slowly intertwined his fingers in mine. I couldn't feel anything else except for the shocks that seemed to be coming from my fingertips.

Edward lifted our hands and brushed the back of his along my cheeks. I leaned into his hand, and he left it there against my face.

We sat like that for several minutes, just sitting and looking into each other's eyes.

Suddenly, he stood up and wrapped his arms around my waist, standing me up with him. I placed my hands on his shoulders and he lowered his face to mine as I lifted mine to meet his.

That was the moment that I changed.

That was the moment that brought back my memories.

That was the moment that started my new life.

**A/N: Aww, sweet. **

**Anyway, this chapter is taking the story in a little bit of a different direction, but I will obviously continue to explain everything. **

**So how 'bout you hit that nice green review button, and maybe I'll put up another chapter soon. ******


	14. Sleepless Nights

**IPMORTANT INFORMATION-Please Read**

**Dear readers,**

**Pengirl won't be able to update this story for a while. She is in serious but stable condition at the hospital and has asked that I post this for you all to see to explain why she has stopped updating and to explain any further lateness in chapters. As soon as she is better she will post the next chapter. It is already partially done, but because of her condition, she cannot complete it yet. **

**Thank you for reading this, and Pengirl thanks you for your continued support.**

**-Family of Pengirl55**


End file.
